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European Parliament slams Hong Kong’s jailing of EU national on security charges, calls for freeing of Jimmy Lai

  • Resolution calls for freeing of Joseph John, as well as activist Andy Li and newspaper publisher Jimmy Lai
  • Measure also condemns Hong Kong’s passage of domestic national security bill, and asks EU to impose sanctions on Chief Executive John Lee

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In addition to calling for the release of those detained under the national security law, the European Parliament resolution also condemned Hong Kong’s Article 23, the Safeguarding National Security Ordinance. Photo: ISD

The European Parliament adopted a resolution on Thursday criticising the first jailing of a person with EU nationality under Hong Kong’s national security law.

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Joseph John, a dual national of Hong Kong and Portugal living in Britain, was sentenced to five years in prison this month for conspiring to incite others to commit secession through online posts pushing for the city’s independence.

John, identified as the president of the now-defunct Hong Kong Independence Party in Britain, was arrested by national security police in November 2022, a month after returning to Hong Kong to take care of his mother, who was suffering from dementia.

District Court Judge Ernest Lin Kam-hung had said in sentencing that John “distorted history, demonised the Chinese government, and appealed to foreign countries to destroy Hong Kong and China”.

In a non-binding urgency resolution that was adopted by a show of hands during the last sitting of EU lawmakers before elections in June, members urged the Hong Kong government “to immediately and unconditionally release” John along with other detainees including newspaper tycoon Jimmy Lai Chee-ying and activist turned prosecution witness Andy Li Yu-hin.

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