HONG KONG – A group of Hong Kong protesters who were arrested by mainland Chinese authorities fleeing the city by speedboat were sentenced to life in prison by the chief minister in a recent attack on pro-democracy activists by the Chinese Communist Party on Wednesday. Challenge his rule.
Eight protesters accused of crossing the border illegally were sentenced to seven months in prison. Tang Kai-yin, 1, and Quin Moon, 33, who pleaded guilty to aggravated attempted escape, received three and two years, respectively.
Protesters were also fined 10,000 to 20,000 yuan, or about 500 1,500,000,000.
Two other defendants, both juveniles at the time of his arrest, were convicted in a closed-door trial and have not been charged since, according to a statement held by activists in the mainland city of Shenzhen on Wednesday. Hong Kong police said Wednesday they would take possession Two anonymous defendants of Mainland officials.
In August, 12 protesters were detained by the Chinese Coast Guard about 45 miles southeast of Hong Kong Island while Taiwan tried to flee. Many Hong Kongers who oppose Beijing have sought refuge in Taiwan in recent months, especially since June, when the central government imposed a strict new national security law on Hong Kong, which many believe has boosted the city’s precious civil liberties.
Attempts to rescue Andy Lee, one of the arrested protesters, were investigated under the new law.
The case of 12 activists – who are called “Hong Kong youth” by supporters at home, amid fears by many government opponents of the central government’s continued encroachment on Hong Kong, has come to light. , A former British colony that promised 50 years of autonomy when it returned to China in 1997.
Because the detainees were arrested and tried on mainland, they denied the denied cases of lawyers chosen by their relatives, according to a group representing family members. More than three months after his arrest, he was not charged with any crime until this month.
The sentencing on Wednesday, in the Yantian District People’s Court in Shenzhen city, pushes the line between the mainland’s legal system, which is opaque and used to silence dissidents, and Hong Kong’s system that adheres to the principles of common law.
According to family members in Hong Kong, relatives Nazen Court said in a statement that although some relatives were present, according to Hong Kong family members, no relatives of the accused were present for the hearing, which lasted two days. Family members were informed of the trial date just three days earlier.
The hearing was not open to observers despite requests from the family and some foreign diplomats. (Shenzhen officials reported that the courtroom was overflowing.)
According to Chinese state-controlled news media reports, 10 protesters were convicted in the hope of receiving 10,000 sentences.
In a statement Monday after the hearing began, a group of family members said the court proceedings were “clear, evidence of radical political repression.”
The statement further said, “The families of 12 people have been in great distress during the detention. They are now only asking for the safety of their children and their early return to Hong Kong.”
The case also drew condemnation from foreign governments for criticizing China’s crackdown on Hong Kong. A spokesman for the United States Embassy in China said in a statement on Monday that “their so-called ‘crime’ was to escape persecution.”
A spokesman for the European Union said the defendants’ rights to a fair trial had “not been respected”. And British Foreign Secretary Dominic Rabe said he was “deeply concerned” by the proceedings.
In response to the allegations, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said the United States should “immediately stop interfering in China’s internal affairs and judicial sovereignty.”
Hong Kong authorities are also cracking down on protesters. On Tuesday, 19-year-old student activist Tony Chung was sentenced to four months in prison for illegally assembling and insulting the national flag.
