Families of 12 Hong Kong people were denied access to information about the “government-appointed lawyer,” they intend to file a lawsuit.

It has been 77 days since the arrest of 12 Hong Kong youths who participated in the 2019 anti-draft campaign in August this year by the Chinese Coast Guard on their way to Taiwan on a suspected speedboat. According to the source, the Shenzhen g’f has been refusing to meet with lawyers hired by the families because they already have “government-appointed lawyers,” and the families have also been denied access to information about the “government-appointed lawyers.

On November 7, six of the family members said they had received a reply from the Shenzhen Public Security Bureau that, according to Article 2 of the “Regulations on the Disclosure of Information by the Chinese Government,” the information requested by the family members was criminal information, not government information, and therefore did not apply to the Regulations.

The Yantian Branch of the Shenzhen Public Security Bureau indicated in the letter that if the family is not satisfied, they can apply for an administrative reconsideration to the Shenzhen Public Security Bureau or the Shenzhen Yantian District Government within 60 days, or file an administrative lawsuit with the Shenzhen Yantian District People’s Court within six months. It is reported that the families of the arrested are planning to apply for an administrative review or file an administrative lawsuit.

Radio Television Hong Kong previously reported on April 4 that at least five mainland law firms had received a notice from China’s Ministry of Justice prohibiting lawyers from representing the “12 Hong Kong people in Shenzhen” and that lawyers who had already done so must withdraw. Hong Kong media also reported that the Hong Kong police may have known about the 12 Hong Kong residents’ plans to leave Hong Kong long before they were intercepted by the mainland Coast Guard. According to a new poll released by the Hong Kong Institute of Public Opinion on October 16, more than half of the Hong Kong people surveyed believe that the police knew about the 12 Hong Kong people’s plans to leave Hong Kong before they were intercepted.

In response to this incident, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and other dignitaries have repeatedly expressed concern about the detention of the 12 Hong Kong people in Guangdong, and have urged the Chinese authorities to ensure that the arrested individuals receive due process of law.