March 20, 2025 – Today in Toronto, Canada, the Law Society of Ontario (LSO) awarded Jimmy Lai its annual Human Rights Award, which will be presented at a ceremony in May.
The Human Rights Award recognizes outstanding contributions to the advancement of human rights and/or the promotion of the rule of law provincially, nationally, or internationally. The Awards will be presented at the annual LSO Awards ceremony, which will take place on May 28, 2025.
The LSO said 77-year-old British citizen Jimmy Lai is a “renowned human rights advocate, pro-democracy campaigner, writer and publisher, and grandfather with family in Canada. He is currently a prisoner of conscience [who] has spent more than 1,500 days in solitary confinement in a maximum-security prison.”
Lai’s pro-democracy activism and his commitment to a free press caused his arrest and detention in Hong Kong to garner attention across the world, the LSO said, adding details of his previous prosecutions, sentencing, and much-delayed national security trial.
Last year, PEN Canada, an organization that promotes literature and defends freedom of expression, presented Jimmy Lai with its One Humanity Award in absentia.
In December 2023, the Canadian House of Commons unanimously passed a motion calling for the release of Jimmy Lai, followed swiftly by the Senate of Canada also unanimously passing a motion calling for the release of the former Apple Daily owner.
Previously, Jimmy Lai has received the Acton Institute’s 2020 Faith and Freedom Award, 2021 Golden Pen of Freedom Award, 2021 Gwen Ifill Press Freedom Award, 2022 Kenneth Y. Tomlinson Award for Courageous Journalism, 2023 Milton Friedman Prize for Advancing Liberty, and the 2023 Magnitsky Outstanding Journalist Award. He was also nominated for the 2024 Nobel Peace Prize.
CFHK Foundation Strategy and Public Affairs Advisor Shannon Van Sant said:
“This award is well deserved and comes at a crucial time in Jimmy Lai’s trial. As we await an all too predictable outcome, we applaud the Law Society of Ontario for recognizing the global impact that the Jimmy Lai trial has had on those fighting for freedom, democracy, and justice under authoritarian regimes.”
