European Parliament calls for release of Jimmy Lai and other detained Hong Kong journalists

On 28 November, the European Parliament adopted with a landslide majority (473 out of 594 present Members of the European Parliament voting in favour) a resolution denouncing the deterioration of press freedom in Hong Kong as showcased in the RSF World Press Freedom Index, where the territory plummeted from 18th place to its current position of 135th in just two decades.

In the resolution, the European Parliament calls on the Hong Kong and Chinese authorities to "immediately and unconditionally release" publisher Jimmy Laias well as Chung Pui-kuen, one of two editors-in-chief of the now defunct media Stand Newssentenced for sedition. The resolution denounces the forced closure of independent media outlets in the territory, and more broadly condemns the National Security Laws, under which "fundamental freedoms and the rule of law in Hong Kong have deteriorated," calling for these laws to be repealed.

Just two weeks shy of his 77th birthday, Jimmy Lai has been jailed since December 2020 on prior spurious convictions. The publisher of Apple Dailyis currently standing trial on charges under the National Security Law (NSL) that could see him spend the rest of his life in prison. Six senior staff of Apple Daily also remain detained, facing possible life sentences on similar NSL charges.

The European Parliament has previously adopted threeresolutions calling for the release of Jimmy Lai and denouncing the deterioration of media freedom in the territory. The last was in April, when the body denouncedthe Hong Kong authorities' detention and deportation of RSF representative Aleksandra Bielakowska as she attempted to enter the country to monitor Jimmy Lai's trial. This marked the first time that an RSF representative was denied entry or held at the Hong Kong airport.

Since the adoption of the NSL in June 2020, the Hong Kong government has been leading an unprecedented campaignagainst the right to information, resulting in the prosecution of at least 28 journalists and press freedom defenders, 11 of whom are currently detained. In the past four years alone, authorities forcibly shut down two major independent media outlets, Apple Daily and Stand News, while the climate of fear led at least six other media outlets to cease operations, and hundreds of journalists were forced to leave the territory for their safety.

Hong Kong is ranked 135th in RSF's 2024 World Press Freedom Index, having plummeted down the rankings from 18th place in just two decades. China itself ranks 172nd of the 180 countries and territories surveyed.