Media tycoon honoured in absentia as critics decry his 20-year sentence under national security law
The jailed media entrepreneur Jimmy Lai has been awarded Deutsche Welle’s freedom of speech award for his contribution to Hong Kong’s pro-democracy movement.
The German public broadcaster said on Thursday that Lai would be presented in absentia with the 12th iteration of the award on 23 June at the DW Global Media Forum in Bonn.
Deutsche Welle’s director general, Barbara Massing, praised the 78-year-old founder of the now-shuttered news outlet Apple Daily for standing “unwaveringly for press freedom in Hong Kong at great personal risk”.
She added: “With Apple Daily, he gave journalists a platform for free reporting and a voice to the democracy movement in Hong Kong,” she said. “His commitment reminds us that press freedom is never a given – it must be constantly defended. With the DW freedom of speech award, we honour his indispensable dedication to democratic values.”
