[ad_1]
SHENZHEN: A Chinese court sentenced 10 Hong Kong activists to between seven months and three years in jail on Wednesday (December 30) for illegally crossing the border, in a case that has drawn international attention and concern over the treatment they are facing. the accused receive.
The group had faced charges in Hong Kong for anti-government protests in the Chinese-ruled city and have been virtually incommunicado in a mainland prison since their ship was intercepted on 23 August after leaving Hong Kong, reportedly en route to the island of Taiwan.
The Shenzhen City Court, which borders the former semi-autonomous British colony of Hong Kong, found eight of the defendants guilty of the illegal crossing and sentenced them to seven months in jail and a fine of 10,000 yuan ($ 1,533). .
Tang Kai-Yin, 31, and Quinn Moon, 33, were convicted of organizing an illegal border crossing and sentenced to three years and two years, respectively, with fines of 20,000 and 15,000 yuan.
All 10 had pleaded guilty to their crimes, the court said. All appeared in court to receive verdicts and were later taken away.
READ: Hong Kong ‘speedboat fugitives’ set for trial in China, US urges release
READ: Families of captured Hong Kong activists demand their return from Chinese detention
Two minors traveling on the ship who had pleaded guilty to illegally crossing the border would not be charged, the prosecutor said.
Earlier, the media reported that the youngest of the 12 activists (11 men and a woman aged 16 to 33) would be transferred to the Hong Kong authorities.
The scene outside the courtroom was quiet, with few media present and no diplomatic representatives after they were denied access to a hearing for 10:00 on Monday.
The police verified the accreditation of the media, asked journalists if they had arranged interviews and urged them not to stay in the vicinity due to the coronavirus.
Taiwan has been a popular destination for Hong Kong’s pro-democracy activists since Beijing imposed a national security law on its freer city in June that critics say is aimed at ending dissent and curbing freedoms.
Hong Kong returned to Chinese rule in 1997 with the guarantee of freedoms not seen on the mainland, including freedom of expression and assembly. Democracy activists complain that the rulers of the Communist Party in Beijing are curtailing those freedoms, a charge that Beijing rejects.
