News & Statements

On December 15, Lai was found guilty on two counts of conspiring to collude with foreign forces. Both charges were laid under Hong Kong’s draconian National Security Law (NSL) which was passed shortly before Lai’s arrest in August 2020. Lai also faced an additional count of seditious publications under the territory’s colonial-era sedition law. 

“By criminalizing Mr. Lai’s peaceful resistance to repressive legal measures, Hong Kong’s authorities undermine any claim to respecting press freedom or tolerating freedom of expression,” said Ira Wells, president of PEN Canada. “We urge the Canadian government to seek justice in this case, and to do whatever it can to secure Mr. Lai’s immediate and unconditional release.” 

With sentencing due in January 2026, Lai, who recently turned 78, could spend the rest of his life in prison. He has endured more than 1,800 days of solitary confinement since his arrest, and has served multiple sentences for peaceful dissent  including a 13-month sentence for attending a 2020 vigil in memory of the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre. 

In 2024, Lai received PEN Canada’s One Humanity Award. The award, established in 2006, is given to a writer whose work transcends the boundaries of national divides and inspires connections across cultures. Previous winners include Egyptian democracy activist Alaa Abd El-Fattah, Iranian human rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh, Ethiopian journalist Eskinder Nega and Saudi blogger Raif Badawi.

For more, read English PEN and PEN International’s joint statement on the verdict.