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HONG KONG: The 12 Hong Kong people arrested at sea by mainland Chinese authorities were not “oppressed democratic activists,” city leader Carrie Lam said on Tuesday (September 15), and 10 of them are under bail for crimes in the Asian financial center.
The 12 were arrested on Aug. 23 for illegally entering mainland China after setting sail from Hong Kong on a ship bound for Taiwan, amid a Beijing crackdown on activists in the former British colony.
The Hong Kong Security Bureau said on Monday the 12 were suspected of having committed crimes in Hong Kong.
READ: Hong Kong says it will not interfere with China’s arrest of 12 at sea
Ten of them had been charged with crimes such as manufacture or possession of explosives, arson, riots, assault on the police or possession of offensive weapons. Those 10 had been released on bail and were not allowed to leave Hong Kong, he said.
One was suspected of colluding with foreign forces under a national security law that Beijing imposed on Hong Kong in June. The law allows the punishment of anything that China considers subversion, separatism, terrorism or collusion.
LEE: China calls Hong Kong people arrested at sea ‘separatists’
In his regular weekly press conference, Lam reiterated that the 12 will have to face justice on the continent and that his government will provide them and their families with “necessary and feasible” assistance.
“The reason they left Hong Kong appears to be that they were escaping legal responsibility,” Lam said.
“I want to make things clear, because certain local and foreign individuals tried to divert attention, describing them as oppressed democratic (activists).”
Lam’s comments come after relatives of some of the detainees held a press conference on Saturday to demand their urgent return and plead to be allowed to call home and consult lawyers appointed by the families and not by the Chinese government. .
Hours before the families’ appearance, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the United States was deeply concerned about the activists, noting that they had been denied access to lawyers.
READ: Chinese lawyers struggle to access Hong Kong’s ‘speedboat fugitives’
China’s Foreign Ministry on Sunday called the group “separatists.” Police in the Chinese city of Shenzhen, where they are being held, said on Sunday they were suspected of trespassing, their first public notice on the matter.
When asked whether it was appropriate to label them “separatists” given that they have not yet been tried, Lam said he sees “no particular value” in debating the issue.
