China - Hong Kong: Jimmy Lai’s arbitrary detention raised at United Nations

16 September 2026: Yesterday at the United Nations Human Rights Council, Tatyana Eatwell, a member of Jimmy Lai’s international legal team, delivered a statement on behalf of PEN International calling for Lai’s immediate release, along with all those arbitrarily detained for their peaceful expression, and for the repeal of Hong Kong’s draconian National Security Law (NSL).   

The statement was delivered during an Interactive Dialogue with the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention. It highlighted the increasing misuse of national security legislation to persecute writers, journalists, and others for exercising their right to freedom of expression. 

In Hong Kong, the conviction of journalist, writer, and pro-democracy activist Jimmy Lai and his subsequent sentence of twenty years’ imprisonment are emblematic of the NSL’s devastating impact on freedom of expression and provide a stark illustration of the Chinese and Hong Kong authorities’ efforts to silence critical voices. 

A transcript of Tatyana’s statement can be found below: 

Thank you, M/Mme Chair.  

International PEN continues to document a disturbing global trend in the abuse of national security laws to suppress the voices of writers, journalists and publishers.  

No clearer is this abuse of the law than in Hong Kong SAR, where national security laws are being used to close independent bookstores, imprison writers and publishers, and to silence critical voices. 

The imprisonment of publisher and pro-democracy campaigner Jimmy Lai is emblematic of this trend and of the profound transformation of Hong Kong SAR from a once vibrant, open society to one in which writers, publishers and booksellers are outlawed. 

Jimmy Lai, now 78 years old, has been imprisoned in Hong Kong since 2020. 

In 2024 the Working Group ruled that he is arbitrarily detained—unlawfully targeted for practicing journalism and for his political opinions—and should be immediately released.  

Yet, Jimmy Lai remains in prison.  

An elderly man in fast declining health, now sentenced to 20 years’ imprisonment, he will likely die in prison for standing by his principles and his beliefs, and for standing with others who called for the democratic reforms in Hong Kong they have been solemnly promised.  

Today, International PEN calls on the Working Group to reiterate its call for Jimmy Lai’s release and to continue to call out the abusive use of national security laws to suppress free speech in Hong Kong. 

We call on all States to join the call for Jimmy Lai’s immediate and unconditional release.  

We call on the People’s Republic of China to release all those wrongly imprisoned in Hong Kong for exercising their right to freedom of expression, and to end its persecution of Jimmy Lai, before it’s too late. 

Note to Editors: 

For further information please contact Michael Rosen-Lupu, Head of Asia-Pacific region at PEN International, email: [email protected]  

For media queries, please contact Sabrina Tucci, PEN International Communications and Campaigns Manager,  [email protected]