US President Donald Trump announced that he had asked Chinese President Xi Jinping to pardon Hong Kong opposition media mogul Jimmy Lai (Li Jing).
“I spoke to President Xi about it and asked that he consider releasing him. He's not well. He's an old man and he's not well. That's why I made this request. We'll see what happens next“, the American leader told reporters at the White House.
On December 15, a Hong Kong court found 78-year-old Jimmy Lai guilty of all charges in a national security case. The founder of the now-defunct Apple Daily newspaper is considered one of the main organizers of the anti-government demonstrations that erupted in Hong Kong in the summer of 2019.
Prosecutors allege that the businessman provided financial support to the protest movement, maintained ties with the US political elite and called for sanctions against Hong Kong and China. He faces a life sentence under the national security law passed in the summer of 2020.
The court previously sentenced Jimmy Lai to five years and nine months in prison in a separate case related to fraud and breach of lease for the headquarters of an opposition newspaper that he owned.