PERUGIA, Italy—China has threatened the British-based lawyers of jailed journalist Jimmy Lai with prosecution, a leading human rights barrister has revealed.
Caoilfhionn Gallagher, KC said the move by Hong Kong authorities was part of a “deeply disturbing trend” of targeting the support networks of those persecuted by the Beijing regime.
The Irish-born lawyer—who works at London’s Doughty Street Chambers—said Lai’s son Sebastian had also received extra-territorial prosecution threats under China’s national security law.
Speaking at the International Journalism Festival in Perugia, Italy, Gallagher—a member of the Hong Kong jailed journalist’s legal team—said the “aggressive” tactics were an attempt to “shut down” criticism of the regime’s human rights abuses….