HONG KONG: A Chinese court has sentenced to prison ten Hong Kong activists who were caught fleeing the city in a speedboat, in a case that has caught international attention and galvanized the city’s opposition.
The convicted activists were part of a group known as the “Hong Kong 12.” The cases have become the focus of a pro-democracy movement that has been hampered by pandemic restrictions, which keep protesters out of the streets and by a new law imposed by Beijing that allows authorities to prosecute people accused of ‘threaten national security.
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“They did not have adequate legal representation, they were detained in secret for months and the verdict was handed down after a secret trial.”
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Pro-democracy families and activists have criticized the arrest of the 12 on the mainland since the Chinese Coast Guard intercepted a speedboat heading for Taiwan in late August. Families and lawyers who hired to represent the activists are not allowed to contact them. The defendants were appointed lawyers for the continent and their trial was held behind closed doors this week.
“They didn’t have adequate legal representation, they were detained in secret for months and the verdict was handed down after a secret trial,” said Eddie Chu, a pro-democracy politician who has coordinated with the families of the 12. the whole judicial process is a joke, but with serious consequences: we don’t even know how to appeal the sentence. “
The United States demanded the release of the activists earlier this week. Foreign diplomats tried to attend the trial, but were not allowed to enter.
Two of the ten convicted activists — Tang Kai-yin, 31, and Quinn Moon, 33 — were convicted of organizing the escape attempt and received terms of three years and two years, respectively, according to the court. Tang also received a fine of 20,000 yuan, the equivalent of about $ 3,000, and Ms. Moon was fined 15,000 yuan.
China passed a national security law for Hong Kong that seeks to quell anti-government protests after a year of unrest. Josh Chin of the WSJ explains why some countries have criticized the law and why critics say it could threaten the city’s state as a global financial center. Photo: May James / Zuma Press
The other eight were sentenced to seven months and fined 10,000 yuan, the court said, which found him guilty at the trial, which took place in the Yantian district court in Shenzhen.
The remaining two, who were minors at the time of their arrests in August, were handed over to a Hong Kong police station on Wednesday. According to Hong Kong prosecutors and police, Chinese prosecutors decided to drop their cases because they were minors after pleading guilty in another closed-door hearing.
Police said the teenagers, who are now 18 and 17, respectively, will continue to face off in Hong Kong. The two are accused of arson related to their alleged involvement in last year’s protests. In September 2019, the eldest teenager was arrested with four more people in an operation where police found explosive materials inside an apartment, while the youngest was accused of throwing Molotov cocktails at a police station in October last year, police said.
In October, city police arrested nine people who said they helped the 12 activists in their escape attempt. The Chinese court statement released on Wednesday suggested that Mr. Tang and Mrs. Moon was organized by other efforts. Lawyers hired by family members of the defendants said they “will not rule out the possibility of detaining more people.”
Family members of the ‘Hong Kong 12’ spoke to the media on Monday.
Photo:
miguel candela / EPA / Shutterstock
Pro-democracy activists have tried to use the cases to invigorate the Hong Kong protest movement, which was initially triggered by a now-defunct bill that would have allowed the extradition of people to mainland China.
Several Hong Kong democratic activists have sought refuge this year after the passage of the national security law, including former delegates Nathan Law, Ted Hui and Sixtus Leung.
—Natasha Khan contributed to this article.
Write to Joyu Wang at [email protected]
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