Ten from Hong Kong face charges in Chinese court amid tight security
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[December 28, 2020]
By David Kirton
SHENZHEN, China (Reuters) - Security was
tight on Monday as 10 people from Hong Kong faced charges in a mainland
Chinese court that include illegal border crossing after a boat they
were travelling in was intercepted en route to the democratic island of
Taiwan.
Mainland Chinese authorities detained the 11 males and one female at sea
on Aug. 23. The youngest is 16.
The 12, who had all faced charges in Hong Kong linked to anti-government
protests in the city, have been held virtually incommunicado in a
mainland prison since they were detained.
Chinese officials, who have described the group as separatists, said two
of them would have a separate hearing as they are minors. It was not
clear if the 10 were appearing in the court or were attending via video
link.
They face charges of illegal border crossing and organising an illicit
border crossing, which could carry a sentence of up to seven years in
jail, mainland authorities said.
The case has attracted much attention in Hong Kong as a rare instance of
Chinese authorities arresting people trying to leave the former British
colony at a time of growing fears about prospects for the city's high
degree of autonomy after Beijing imposed a draconian national security
law in June.
Diplomats from countries including the United States, Britain, Canada
and Australia, were denied entry for the much-anticipated hearing after
authorities said the court was full.
"We've been denied entry. The official explanation given is that the
case does not involve any foreign citizens," one Western envoy told
Reuters.
The detainees' plight has grabbed international attention, with human
rights groups raising concern over their treatment after their families
said they were denied access to independent lawyers.
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Pro-democracy supporters protest to urge for the release of 12 Hong
Kong activists arrested as they reportedly sailed to Taiwan for
political asylum and citizen journalist Zhang Zhan outside China's
Liaison Office, in Hong Kong, China December 28, 2020.
REUTERS/Tyrone Siu
"They try to say it's an open trial but they also say all the seats
are occupied. The family members don’t have the right to attend the
trial. That’s absurd," said Lee Cheuk-yan, chairman of the Hong Kong
Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China.
"They don't have the right to appoint their own lawyer. They don't
even know the names of the government-appointed lawyers."
Earlier on Monday, the U.S. embassy in China urged authorities to
release the fugitives and allow them to leave.
"Their so-called 'crime' was to flee tyranny. Communist China will
stop at nothing to prevent its people from seeking freedom
elsewhere," the embassy said in a statement.
Pro-democracy activists began fleeing Hong Kong for self-ruled
Taiwan from the early months of anti-government protests last year,
most of them legally, by air, but some by fishing boat, activists in
Taipei who helped Hong Kong citizens get visas have told Reuters.
(Reporting By David Kirton in Shenzhen and Pak Yiu in Hong Kong;
Writing by Anne Marie Roantree; Editing by Robert Birsel)
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