Prison authorities accuse ‘anti-China’ figures of ‘fabricating lies’ after US group says guards rehearsed Jimmy Lai’s death

The Correctional Services Department (CSD) has said it does not discuss prison security or “specific arrangements” for persons in custody, after a US-based advocacy group said prison guards had rehearsed protocols in the event of jailed activist Jimmy Lai’s death.

In a statement sent to HKFP on Thursday, the CSD said overseas “anti-China, Hong Kong-destabilising figures” have been “fabricating lies” about Lai’s health and custodial arrangements.

Lai, 78, was sentenced in February to 20 years in jail following his conviction for conspiring to commit foreign collusion and conspiring to publish seditious content. He is the founder of the now-defunct pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily.

Lai’s children have raised concerns about their father’s health and said he is not being properly cared for in prison – accusations that authorities have denied.

See also: In full: The 855-page guilty verdict against media tycoon Jimmy Lai

“The CSD does not disclose information relating to prison security and order, privacy, and safety, nor details regarding specific arrangements for individual [detainees],” the department said.

The statement was in response to overseas advocacy group The Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong (CFHK) Foundation’s report. Published last week, the report said prison staff have been known to rehearse protocols for Lai’s death.

“Most alarmingly, a source with direct knowledge of prison operations told the CFHK Foundation that Stanley Prison guards formally rehearsed procedures in the event that Lai dies in custody,” the report stated.

The report was written by Frances Hui, a policy and advocacy manager at the CFHK Foundation. The foundation’s website is blocked by some Hong Kong telecom providers.

Hui is among the activists wanted by national security police, with a HK$1 million bounty for information that could lead to her arrest. She is accused of foreign collusion through urging other countries to impose sanctions on China.

Hong Kong authorities have repeatedly refuted concerns that Lai is not receiving proper medical treatment in custody.

In the recent statement, the CSD said all correctional institutes have medical officers seconded from the Department of Health, and that inmates have regular access to specialist consultation and treatment.

“It is unquestionable that the medical services received by Lai Chee-ying in custody are as adequate and comprehensive as those for other [detainees],” the department wrote.

During a court hearing in January, his lawyers said Lai was suffering from ailments including hypertension and diabetes while arguing for a more lenient jail sentence ahead of his sentencing.

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Hillary Leung is a journalist at Hong Kong Free Press, where she reports on local politics and social issues, and assists with editing. Since joining in late 2021, she has covered the Covid-19 pandemic, political court cases including the 47 democrats national security trial, and challenges faced by minority communities.

Born and raised in Hong Kong, Hillary completed her undergraduate degree in journalism and sociology at the University of Hong Kong. She worked at TIME Magazine in 2019, where she wrote about Asia and overnight US news before turning her focus to the protests that began that summer. At Coconuts Hong Kong, she covered general news and wrote features, including about a Black Lives Matter march that drew controversy amid the local pro-democracy movement and two sisters who were born to a domestic worker and lived undocumented for 30 years in Hong Kong.