Bring him home: RSF calls for Sir Keir Starmer to demand release of British publisher Jimmy Lai during visit to China

In the letter sent by Thibaut Bruttin, RSF's Director General, to British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer ahead of his visit to China, RSF demands that the publisher's release be secured, and that he be allowed to reunite with his family in the UK and receive the medical treatment he urgently needs. After more than five years in detention, the health of the Apple Dailyfounder and laureate of the 2020 RSF Press Freedom Award, has sharply declined. Lai currently faces a possible life sentence under trumped-up national security charges following a guilty verdict handed down on 15 December 2025. Starmer has previously said that securing Jimmy Lai's release is a Government priority, though he has yet to meet Lai's family to discuss any concrete action.

His case has broad political support in the UK. On 26 January 2026, 35 cross-party parliamentarians wrote to the Prime Minister, urging him to secure the release of Jimmy Lai and make any trade deal conditional on his release. RSF has repeatedly called for Starmer to meet Sebastien Lai and in August led a coalition of more than 70 NGOs asking the prime minister to seek urgent medical parolefor Jimmy Lai.

Lai has been found guilty of offences under Hong Kong's National Security Law, which has widely been condemned by human rights organisations as draconian, including two counts of "collusion with foreign forces" and conspiring to publish "seditious" material. His sentence will be announced at a later date. Six members of Apple Daily staff as well as two other co-accused have also been found guilty and are awaiting sentencing.

Lai has been in prison continuously since December 2020. Subjected to unlawful conditions of solitary confinement, he is restricted to only 50 minutes of "exercise" per day in a metal cage, which has led to significant deterioration of his health. His family has warned that his fingernails have fallen off and his teeth rotted, and that he has suffered severe weight loss.

Hong Kong has fallen dramatically in RSF's World Press Freedom Index, now ranked 140th out of 180 countries and territories surveyed, compared to 18th just two decades prior. China, ranked 178th, remains the world's largest jailer of journalists, with at least 123 currently in detention.