China Trial Of Hong Kong 12 Begins As US Decries Tyranny By Beiyi Seow, with Su Xinqi in Hong Kong
12/28/20 AT 9:36 AM
A group of Hong Kong pro-democracy activists who tried to escape the city by speedboat for sanctuary in Taiwan went on trial in China on Monday as the United States urged the immediate release of dissidents it says fled tyranny .
Ten of the so-called Hong Kong 12 were in court in the southern city of Shenzhen to face charges linked to an illegal border crossing.
Chinese authorities took them into custody after their boat was intercepted on August 23.
The hearing began as scheduled on Monday afternoon and a convoy of vehicles were seen departing around four hours later. The Yantian District People s Court said sentencing will be at a later date.
Monday, 28 Dec 2020 11:24 AM MYT
Police stand outside the Yantian District Detention Centre, where 12 Hong Kong pro-democracy activists have been detained after they were arrested last August as they tried to flee Hong Kong to Taiwan by boat, ahead of their trial in China’s south-eastern city of Shenzhen, across the border from Hong Kong, December 28, 2020. AFP pic
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SHENZHEN, Dec 28 The United States called for the “immediate release” of a group of Hong Kong democracy activists facing trial in China today, after they attempted to escape the territory by speedboat for sanctuary in Taiwan.
Liu Guozhou
4018 Jiefang Lu, Luohu Qu
Shenzhen Shi 518001
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CHENG Tsz-ho (鄭子豪), CHEUNG Chun-fu (張俊富), LIU Tsz-man (廖子文), QUINN Moon (喬映瑜), TANG Kai-yin (鄧棨然), LI Tsz-yin (李子賢), LI Yu-hin (李宇軒), WONG Wai-yin (黃偉然) and four other individuals were intercepted by coast guard officers from mainland China after leaving Hong Kong on a speedboat on 23 August 2020.
On 16 December, two among the 12 were formally charged for “organizing other persons to secretly cross the border” and face up to 10 years’ imprisonment, while eight others face up to one year in prison for “secretly crossing the border”. The Shenzhen Yantian District Procuratorate will also hold a closed-door hearing to decide whether to charge the remaining two detained individuals, who were both under 18 when arrested, while they remain in custodial detention.