NDP MP Jenny Kwan, who was born in Hong Kong, said Mr. Lai’s conviction is “another devastating milestone in the systematic dismantling of fundamental freedoms in Hong Kong.”
“Mr. Lai is not a criminal – he is a prisoner of conscience whose only ‘crime’ is standing up for democracy, freedom of the press, and the rule of law,” she said in a statement.
Bloc Québécois foreign affairs critic Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe said the guilty verdict was “revolting.”
“The Bloc Québécois demands the immediate release of Mr. Lai and we await the same resolve from Mr. Carney and his government,” he said.
Michael Kovrig urges Canada to press China for Jimmy Lai’s release on health grounds
Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand said Canada condemns the “politically motivated prosecution” of Mr. Lai. She said the government calls for his immediate release.
British Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper, who raised Mr. Lai’s case at a G7 foreign ministers meeting last month, also called the prosecution of Mr. Lai “politically motivated” and renewed calls for his “immediate release, for all necessary treatment and for full access to independent medical professionals.”
Amnesty International’s China director Sarah Brooks called it “the death knell for press freedom in Hong Kong, where the essential work of journalism has been rebranded as a crime.”
