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HONG KONG: Relatives and supporters of 12 Hong Kong residents, detained in China after trying to flee the city by speedboat, protested on an island near the Chinese prison on Saturday (November 21), where they have been virtually incommunicado for almost three months.
The 11 men and a woman were captured by the Chinese coast guard on August 23 aboard a speedboat believed to be bound for Taiwan.
All had faced charges related to the protest movement involving Hong Kong, including riots and violation of a national security law that China imposed in June.
Family members and supporters of some of the 12 walked to the top of Kat O Island in the remote northeastern reaches of Hong Kong, looking out over China’s high-tech booming city of Shenzhen and the Yantian district, where they a dozen are detained.
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Some looked through binoculars towards a hill where the detention center is located. Several told Reuters they want the Chinese authorities to treat cases fairly, equitably and transparently.
The group inflated blue and white balloons and wrote the names of the detainees on them, before releasing them into a leaden sky. They sang for their “immediate safe return” while holding up white signs that read “SAVE 12” and “Go home.”
“I hope you can see the balloons and know that we have not given up yet,” said the 28-year-old wife of detainee Wong Wai-yin.
Later, a Hong Kong Marine Police boat docked on the island, and the police questioned and recorded the details of several reporters present.
LEE: Hong Kong people detained in China send ‘dubious’ letters from jail: Families
Authorities have denied family members and lawyers access to the 12, insisting that they be represented by officially appointed lawyers. Last week, seven detainees wrote letters by hand to their family, but the group said in a statement that “they appear to have been compiled under duress.”
Eddie Chu, a former legislator who recently resigned in protest against political repression by the authorities under the national security law, said it was important to keep fighting.
“We’re so close to them, only a few kilometers really, but it’s actually kind of … unattainable. So we need to have the balloons to do this for us.”
