Niagara family, mayor call for hotelier Jimmy Lai's release from Hong Kong prison as G7 ministers set to meet

As G7 foreign ministers prepare to meet in Ontario's Niagara Region, family of hotel owner Jimmy Lai and Niagara-on-the-Lake’s lord mayor are calling for the pro-democracy activist's release from a Hong Kong prison.

Lai, who was arrested in 2020 and is being held in Lai Chi Kok prison, owns Vintage Hotels, a string of inns across the region. A British and Hong Kong citizen, he was founder of the now-shuttered pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily.

“My uncle hasn’t done anything wrong that we don’t do in our own country on a daily basis,” his niece, Erica Lepp, who lives in Niagara-on-the-Lake, told CBC News on Thursday.

“Niagara-on-the-Lake is my uncle’s Canadian home,” Lepp said, “and this is where the majority of his Canadian family is.”

Gary Zalepa, Niagara-on-the-Lake's lord mayor, said in a public letter published on Nov. 3 that Lai and his family “have made a lasting contribution to our community.”

Lai and his family "have strengthened the local economy, created meaningful employment opportunities, and revitalized key heritage properties that attract visitors and sustain local businesses,” said the letter, which was released before Niagara Region hosts the G7 security, prosperity and economic resilience forum next week.

Zalepa said his support for Lai's release is grounded "in the belief that every person deserves fair treatment under the law," and that he also wrote to Canadian Foreign Minister Anita Anand, who is set to host the G7 ministers' meeting.

"I am proud to advocate for someone who has spent his life championing those very ideals," he wrote.

Lai was considered one of the most high-profile political arrestees in Hong Kong under a sweeping China-imposed national security law that was imposed after mass pro-democracy protests in 2019.

At his trial, which began in December 2023 and wrapped up in August, he pleaded not guilty to two charges of conspiracy to collude with foreign forces and a charge of conspiracy to publish material seditious against the Chinese government. If convicted, he could face a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.

According to Reuters, Lai was suffering from heart palpitations and was provided with a heart monitor and medication, his lawyers said during his 156-day trial.

Last week, U.S. President Donald Trump also expressed support for Lai's release, to Chinese President Xi Jinping, and suggested it would benefit U.S.-Chinese ties as well as China's image, reported Reuters, which cited sources briefed on the contents of their meeting in South Korea.

Lepp is especially concerned about her uncle’s well-being and said he also has diabetes.

Lai has been held in solitary confinement for more than 1,700 days, according to his family and rights groups.