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A Chinese court on Wednesday jailed 10 Hong Kong democracy activists for up to three years for an attempt by the group to flee the city by speedboat to seek refuge in Taiwan.
The group was arrested by the Chinese coast guard on Aug. 23 en route to the autonomous island, which has opened its doors to Hong Kong residents amid a mounting crackdown on dissent in Hong Kong.
The Shenzhen Yantian District People’s Court sentenced Tang Kai-yin to three years in prison and Quinn Moon to two years for organizing an illegal border crossing.
The other eight were sentenced to seven months behind bars for illegally crossing the border.
Officials previously said two minors of the so-called “12 from Hong Kong” would be returned to Hong Kong after they admitted to committing a crime.
The couple returned to the city around noon on Wednesday.
The 10 adults in the group appeared in court for the first time in the southern city of Shenzhen on Monday, but the trial, like many in China’s opaque legal system, was not open to foreign journalists or diplomats.
These ten were also fined up to 20,000 yuan ($ 3,060) in addition to their jail terms.
But the Yantian District People’s Prosecutor’s Office said it would not pursue its case against the two teenagers, surnamed Hoang and Liu.
The families of the accused were only notified of the trial date three days before the hearing, while their lawyers were unable to meet with the detainees.
Lawyers said Wednesday that the sentences were too harsh and that the accusation of organizing a border crossing was unsubstantiated.
The United States called on Monday for the immediate release of the group that it said was “fleeing tyranny.”
“Communist China will stop at nothing to prevent its people from seeking freedom elsewhere,” a spokesman for the US embassy told AFP.
Some members of the group were already on trial in Hong Kong, where democracy activists last year led massive protests against the Beijing government that have since been removed by a strict new security law.
(AFP)
