Dear editor:

As President John F. Kennedy said in his “Ich bin ein Berliner” speech at the Berlin Wall in 1963, “Freedom has many difficulties and democracy is not perfect, but we have never had to put a wall up to keep our people in.”

Mr. Lai’s incarceration, for standing against tyranny and speaking in defence of freedom, is not just cruel and inhumane, but an affront to humanity (The Lake Report, Nov. 13, “‘Free Jimmy Lai now’“).

Mr. Lai would not have been faulted for living a quiet life, enjoying the fruits of his hard work and incredible success.

Instead, he placed himself in the face of a massive storm in defence of liberty and freedom of thought and speech.

I believe that he did this not because he didn’t foresee what would happen, but rather precisely because he did foresee the possible consequences.

He is not just a hero of democracy, but a giant of a man.

Ralph Nero
Old Town