Jimmy Lai: son of detained media tycoon urges Hong Kong’s foreign judges to reconsider staying

The son of detained Hong Kong media mogul Jimmy Lai has urged foreign judges to carefully consider whether they should continue to serve in judicial roles “in this place that imprisons pro-democracy protesters”.

Speaking during a visit to Australia, Sebastien Lai said Hong Kong “has more than 1,800 political prisoners and these political prisoners are there for their pro-democracy protesting”.

He did not directly blame foreign judges for that development, but noted that two UK judges and a Canadian judge had recently decided to cease their roles in Hong Kong.

Related: Remaining British judges urged to resign from Hong Kong’s top court

Four Australian judges continue to serve in judicial roles in Hong Kong. These include Patrick Keane, who said last year that the court of final appeal had a record of success in upholding the rule of law and he believed it was better to play a role than to “vacate the field”.

Sebastien Lai said the judges who chose to leave Hong Kong were “voting with their feet”.

“By staying, you’re essentially saying that, well, there’s still some semblance of the rule of law in this place that imprisons pro-democracy protesters,” he told the National Press Club in Canberra on Monday.

“And that is not true, that is not true at all.”

Speaking on the same panel, the human rights lawyer Caoilfhionn Gallagher KC said many foreign judges had “grappled with their consciences over the last number of years”.

“I totally understand that many of them have formed the view that they can make things better by being there,” Gallagher said.

“I’m also conscious of the other view, that by being present it gives a fig leaf of due process to a system which has become profoundly unfair.

“I entirely respect and understand that the [judges] who are remaining may be remaining for good reason, even if my view is that it’s a misguided reason,” she said.

Monday marks the 27th anniversary of the handover of the former British colony to China.

Related: Jimmy Lai pleads not guilty to all charges at Hong Kong national security trial

Sebastien Lai is in Australia to advocate on behalf of his father Jimmy Lai, 76, who has pleaded not guilty to charges of conspiring to collude with foreign forces and conspiring to publish seditious material.

Gallagher, who leads the international legal team for Jimmy Lai, urged the Australian government to join with the US and the UK in expressly calling for the pro-democracy campaigner’s immediate and unconditional release.

Jennifer Robinson, the Australian lawyer who was instrumental in securing WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange’s release last week, said Australia was an important voice in the region and could make “a big difference” by speaking out on the matter.

Robinson said Australia’s relationship with Beijing had “improved significantly”, leading to successful negotiations to release the journalist Cheng Lei last year.

In an interview with the Guardian, Sebastien Lai vowed to continue the campaign for his father’s freedom because “in life you choose what you live for and what you fight for”.

When asked if he drew strength from his father’s example, he said: “I know that freeing my father and the people Hong Kong is the right thing to do. And so I draw tremendous strength, and tremendous hope as well, more importantly.”

He described the recently passed article 23 national security law as “just another weapon that they could use to crack down on people”.

Sebastien Lai and his lawyers met the Australian foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, in Canberra late on Monday.

“Australia is deeply concerned by Hong Kong’s widespread application of national security laws to repress civil society and prosecute journalists like Mr Jimmy Lai,” Wong said in a post on X.

“Today I met Mr Lai’s family and lawyers to discuss Australia’s advocacy for democracy supporters in Hong Kong.”

In December, Australia joined with 23 other countries to issue a statement denouncing “continued attacks on freedom of the press and their suppression of independent local media in Hong Kong”.

Comment has been sought from the Chinese embassy in Canberra. Chinese authorities have previously said the crackdown in Hong Kong has “restored order”.