[ad_1]
SHENZHEN, China: On Monday (December 28), relatives of 10 Hong Kong people who have been linked to protests against Beijing in the city and who have been held in a Chinese prison for four months appealed to a mainland court for a quick decision on your case.
The group, whose case is being heard by a court in Shenzhen, a semi-autonomous city on the border with Hong Kong, faced charges including illegal border crossing after their ship was allegedly intercepted en route to Taiwan.
Authorities detained the 11 men and one woman at sea on August 23. The youngest is 16 years old.
The 12, who had faced charges in Hong Kong for anti-government protests there, have been held virtually incommunicado in a mainland prison since their arrest.
Police officers are seen outside the Yantian District People’s Court, where ten of the 12 Hong Kongers who were detained in Chinese waters while fleeing the city are expected to stand trial, in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, China, on 28 April. December 2020. REUTERS / David Kirton
Pro-democracy activists began fleeing Hong Kong for democratic Taiwan since the first months of the protests last year, most of them legally by air, but some by boat, activists in Taipei told Reuters.
Chinese officials, who have described the group as separatists, said two would have a separate hearing because they are minors. Andy Li, one of the detainees, faces charges related to a national security law that Beijing imposed on Hong Kong in June for which some crimes carry a sentence of up to life in prison.
Charges of illegal border crossing and organizing an illegal border crossing carry a sentence of up to seven years in jail, authorities in mainland China said.
A Reuters reporter and diplomats were not allowed into court. A concern group supporting the families of the detainees said none of the accused’s relatives attended the trial.
At a press conference in Hong Kong, relatives of some of the detainees called for transparency.
READ: Families of captured Hong Kong activists demand their return from Chinese detention
“I beg the courts to issue a speedy sentence,” said the mother of 29-year-old Wong Wai-yin, one of the defendants.
“I really want to see my son. If you don’t give him a sentence, I can’t see him. If you give him a sentence, then I can go see him. All I want is to see his face once.”
A police officer records a video during a protest to urge the release of 12 Hong Kong activists arrested while allegedly sailing to Taiwan seeking political asylum and citizen journalist Zhang Zhan in front of the China Liaison Office in Hong Kong. , China on Dec 28, 2020. REUTERS / Tyrone Siu
The court said the ruling would be handed down at a later date, without giving further details on a deadline. It was unclear whether the plaintiffs pleaded guilty.
The case has attracted much attention in Hong Kong as a rare instance in which Chinese authorities arrested people trying to leave the former British colony at a time of growing fears about the prospects for its high degree of autonomy after Beijing imposed a draconian national security law in June.
READ: Hong Kong residents arrested at sea ‘will have to be treated’ by mainland China: Carrie Lam
International human rights groups have raised concerns about the treatment of the accused after their families said they were denied access to independent lawyers.
“They try to say it is an open trial, but they also say that all seats are taken. Family members have no right to attend the trial. That is absurd,” said Lee Cheuk-yan, chairman of the Hong Kong Alliance. in Support of China’s patriotic democratic movements.
“They have no right to appoint their own lawyer. They don’t even know the names of the government-appointed lawyers.”
Diplomats from countries including the United States, Britain, Canada and Australia were denied entry to the hearing after authorities said the court was full.
“We have been denied entry. The official explanation given is that the case does not involve any foreign nationals,” a Western envoy told Reuters.
Representatives of the consulate meet at the entrance of a court in Shenzhen
British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said his government was deeply concerned that the 12 were secretly tried. London hopes that China will respect the rule of law and conduct trials fairly and transparently, Raab said.
The US embassy in China urged authorities to release the fugitives and allow them to leave.
“Their supposed ‘crime’ was to flee from tyranny. Communist China will stop at nothing to prevent its people from seeking freedom elsewhere,” the embassy said in a statement.
