28 December 2020, 08:04 UTC
Ahead of the trial of a group of Hong Kong residents detained in mainland China since attempting to leave Hong Kong by speedboat in August, Amnesty International Hong Kong’s Programme Manager Lam Cho Ming said:
“We fear that the chance of these young Hongkongers getting a fair trial in China is remote given they have so far been deprived of their basic rights, including the right to defend themselves through legal representation of their own choosing.
“Their families have repeatedly been denied direct access to them, and several mainland lawyers who have attempted to represent them at the families’ request have been threatened by the Chinese authorities to force them to drop the case.
Diplomats from the US, Britain, Australia, Canada, Portugal and the Netherlands wait outside the Yantian District People’s Court, where 12 Hong Kong pro-democracy activists who were arrested last August as they tried to flee Hong Kong to Taiwan by boat will face trial, in China s southeastern city of Shenzhen, across the border from Hong Kong, Dec. 28, 2020. Photo: RFA
Ten out of 12 Hong Kong protesters arrested as they tried to flee the city to the democratic island of Taiwan stood trial at a court in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen on Monday, on charges linked to illegal border crossings. On the afternoon of Dec. 28, this court held a public trial in accordance with the law in the illegal border crossing case, the Yantian District People s Court said in a statement posted to its official account on the Weibo social media platform.
Photo: RFA
Authorities in the southern Chinese province of Guangdong will likely hold the trials of 12 Hong Kong protesters detained as they fled to the democratic island of Taiwan in the very first days of the New Year, according to a defense lawyer representing one of them.
The Yantian District People’s Procuratorate in Guangdong s Shenzhen city is prosecuting Hong Kong activists Quinn Moon and Tang Kai-yin for organizing an illegal border crossing, which carries a maximum penalty of seven years imprisonment, and Li Tsz-yin; Andy Li; Wong Wai-yin, and Kok Tsz-lun for illegally crossing a border.
According to an FAQ article published by defense attorney Lu Siwei in a number of Hong Kong media outlets this week, the trial looks set to be held at the Yantian District People s Court on Jan. 1.
China Indicts Hong Kong 12 For Illegal Border Crossing beijingbulletin.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from beijingbulletin.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
China Charges Hong Kong Activists Caught Fleeing to Taiwan
The group has been denied access to lawyers hired by their families, raising fears in Hong Kong.
University students in Hong Kong putting up banners demanding the release of 12 protesters caught fleeing the city in August.Credit.Lam Yik Fei for The New York Times
The case has become a focal point for Hong Kong’s pro-democracy opposition, which, after months of intense protests last year, has been checked by a wide-ranging crackdown and the imposition of a tough national security law on the semiautonomous Chinese territory. The effects of the law were on display in Hong Kong on Wednesday, as a group of high-ranking officials swore an oath of loyalty to the local government and constitution as part of a new requirement.