Photo of Hong Kong pro-democracy activist Jimmy Lai in 2021. EPA Yonhap

The children of Hong Kong pro-democracy activist Jimmy Lai claim his health has severely deteriorated due to poor prison conditions.

According to an AFP report on the 4th, Lai's daughter Claire Lai and son Sebastian Lai stated that their father, who will turn 78 next week and suffers from diabetes, is being held in solitary confinement without air conditioning in a cell that reaches 44 degrees Celsius (111 degrees Fahrenheit) in the summer.

They visited Washington D.C. to appeal for support for Jimmy Lai and were interviewed by AFP.

Claire Lai, who left Hong Kong after seeing her father a few months ago, said, "My father has visibly lost weight and is much weaker than before. His fingernails have turned purple, gray, and green and fallen off, and his teeth are rotting."

Claire Lai also said that Lai, a devout Catholic, has been prevented by prison guards from receiving communion.

She added that the guards are trying to break his spirit by tormenting him over "trivial matters," such as withholding curry sauce, knowing that he likes it.

His son, Sebastian Lai, expressed hope that U.S. President Donald Trump and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer would continue to raise issues with China regarding their father, who is a British citizen.

Jimmy Lai's children being interviewed. Sebastian Lai (right) and Claire Lai (left), children of Hong Kong pro-democracy activist Jimmy Lai, are interviewed by AFP in Washington D.C., United States, on December 2nd. AFP=Yonhap

Sebastian Lai pleaded, "It would take less than two hours to put my father on a plane. It's a humanitarian act and the right thing to do. They have already sent my father to hell."

Jimmy Lai, the former owner of the Hong Kong pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily, was arrested and charged in December 2020 with violating the Hong Kong National Security Law for allegedly colluding with foreign forces and publishing seditious material.

The Hong Kong National Security Law, enacted and implemented by Chinese authorities in June 2020 following widespread anti-government protests in Hong Kong in 2019, criminalizes four offenses: secession, subversion of state power, terrorism, and collusion with foreign forces, with penalties up to life imprisonment.

Lai's trial for national security law violations, after several postponements, began in December 2023 and is awaiting sentencing after final arguments in August.

Separately from the national security law charges, he was sentenced to 20 months in prison in 2021 for inciting illegal assemblies in 2019 and to 69 months in prison in 2022 for using Apple Daily's office for a purpose other than its permitted use (fraud).

Apple Daily, which Lai founded in June 1995, voluntarily ceased publication on June 24, 2021, under intense pressure from the authorities.

The Hong Kong government refuted the AFP report, stating that it "distorted the facts" and that Jimmy Lai received appropriate medical treatment while imprisoned.

In a statement, the Hong Kong government said, "The report aims to defame the Hong Kong government by leading the public to believe that the measures taken against Lai were 'poor.' Relevant departments, including the Correctional Services Department, treated Jimmy Lai equally with other inmates, and he received appropriate medical treatment and care during his incarceration."