|
Source: Reuters
Father of one of the 12 detainees stands on a peak overlooking
Yantian district in the neighbouring Chinese mainland city of
Shenzhen, in Hong Kong
Activist Lester Shum speaks before relatives and supporters of
the 12 Hong Kong people detained in mainland China release
balloons in Hong Kong
Relatives and supporters of the 12 Hong Kong people detained in
mainland China prepare balloons before releasing them in Hong
Kong
Relatives and supporters of the 12 Hong Kong people detained in
mainland China release balloons in Hong Kong
The 11 men and one woman were captured by the Chinese coastguard
on Aug. 23 aboard a speedboat believed to be bound for Taiwan.
All had faced charges linked to the protest movement embroiling
Hong Kong, including rioting and violation of the a national
security law China imposed in June.
Family members and supporters of some of the 12 hiked to the
peak of Kat O island in Hong Kong's remote northeastern reaches,
looking onto China's high-tech boomtown of Shenzhen, and the
Yantian district where the dozen are being held.
Some peered through binoculars at a hill where the detention
centre is located. Several told Reuters they want the Chinese
authorities to deal with the cases in a just, fair and
transparent manner.
The group inflated blue and white balloons and wrote the names
of the detainees on them, before releasing them into a leaden
sky. They chanted for their "immediate safe return" while
holding white banners reading "SAVE 12" and "Return Home".
"I hope he can see the balloons and know we didn’t give up yet,"
said the 28-year-old wife of detainee Wong Wai-yin.
A Hong Kong marine police vessel later docked on the island,
with police questioning and taking down the details of several
reporters present.
Authorities have denied family and lawyers access to the 12,
insisting they be represented by officially appointed lawyers.
Last week seven detainees wrote handwritten letters to their
family, but the group said in a statement that "they seem to
have been compiled under duress".
Eddie Chu, a former lawmaker who recently quit his post in
protest against political suppression by authorities under the
national security law, said it was important to keep fighting.
"We are so close to them, just a few kilometres in reality, but
in fact it's like ... something unreachable. So we need to have
the balloons to do this for us.”
(Reporting by Jessie Pang and James Pomfret; Editing by William
Mallard)
[© 2020 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2020 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.
|
|
