Media Freedom and Democracy in Hong Kong

Please join us for a panel discussion on the Trial of Jimmy Lai, Media Freedom and Democracy in Hong Kong, featuring:

Sebastien Lai, son of Jimmy Lai, renowned pro-democracy campaigner and media entrepreneur

Professor Ben Saul, Challis Chair of International Law at the University of Sydney and the United Nations Special Rapporteur

Caoilfhionn Gallagher KC, human rights lawyer and expert in media freedom and journalists’ safety

Jennifer Robinson, award-winning barrister specialising in human rights and media freedom law

Please arrive at 5.30pm for a 6pm start. 

Jimmy Lai, renowned pro-democracy campaigner, media entrepreneur, writer and founder of Apple Daily, is currently on trial in Hong Kong under the controversial new National Security Law (NSL), facing the possibility of a lifetime in prison.

Apple Daily was Hong Kong’s most popular Chinese language newspaper until its forced closure in 2021, which Amnesty International described as ‘the blackest day for media freedom in Hong Kong’.

Mr Lai has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, in recognition of the persecution he has faced for his work advocating for democracy and civil liberties in Hong Kong. His imprisonment is the highest profile case of the crackdown on freedom of the press, business and democracy in the region.

Now dedicating his time to advocating for his father’s release, Sebastien Lai is visiting Australia, along with lead counsel and civil liberties expert Caoilfhionn Gallagher KC, to highlight his father’s plight and the far-reaching implications of the case.

At a time when Press Freedom in Hong Kong has slipped from number 18 in the world to around 140 in the past two decades, and for the first time in its history the 28th edition of the Economic Freedom of the World saw Hong Kong drop from the number one spot, this is an important discussion of the encroachment on media, political and economic freedom in our region.

SEBASTIEN LAI: Sebastien Lai is Jimmy Lai’s son. Jimmy Lai is a renowned pro-democracy campaigner, media entrepreneur and writer, who founded Next Digital and Apple Daily, the popular independent Chinese language newspaper in Hong Kong which was forcibly shut down by the Hong Kong authorities in 2021. Jimmy Lai has been imprisoned in Hong Kong since December 2020, and now awaits trial which could lead to him spending the rest of his life behind bars.

PROFESSOR BEN SAUL: Challis Chair of International Law at The University of Sydney and the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms while Countering Terrorism. He has published 20 books and hundreds of scholarly articles. Ben has taught at Oxford, Harvard, The Hague and Xiamen Academies of International Law, and in Europe and Asia; practised in international tribunals; advised governments, NGOs and the UN; worked in over 35 countries; and appeared regularly in the international media. He is an elected Fellow of the Australian Academy of Social Sciences, and formerly an Associate Fellow at the Royal Institute of International Affairs (Chatham House) in London and the International Centre for Counter-Terrorism in The Hague.

CAOILFHIONN GALLAGHER KC: Caoilfhionn is a human rights lawyer. Over the past 25 years she has acted in many of the leading cases in the UK and before the European Court of Human Rights on a wide range of human rights issues. Her international work includes acting in many cases involving arbitrary detention: she has secured the freedom of imprisoned journalists, peaceful protestors, cartoonists and human rights defenders in countries worldwide. She is an expert in journalists' safety, and she leads the international legal teams for Hong Kong publisher and pro-democracy activist Jimmy Lai; for the bereaved family of assassinated Maltese journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia; and for Maria Ressa, the Nobel Peace Prize winning journalist in the Philippines.

JENNIFER ROBINSON: An award-winning barrister at Doughty Street Chambers in London and a member of the international legal team for Jimmy Lai. She has acted in key human rights and media freedom cases in domestic and international courts. Her work has involved securing the freedom of arbitrarily detained journalists, protesters, human rights defenders and Australian citizens detained abroad in countries around the world. She advises media organisations and journalists on media freedom and journalist safety, with clients including the BBC World Service; the International Federation of Journalists and bereaved family members of Palestinian journalists, including Shireen Abu Akleh, in relation to targeting by Israel; the bereaved family of assassinated Maltese journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia; and Julian Assange and WikiLeaks.