Twelve Hong Kong people who were detained by Chinese police in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, for nearly 40 days on the eve of the October 1 “Mid-Autumn Festival” have not been able to see their families or the lawyers they hired for them.
On Wednesday (September 30), five relatives of the Hong Kong detainees, assisted by lawmaker Zhu Kaidi and local activist Zou Jiacheng, walked from the Western District Police Station to the Liaison Office of the Chinese Communist Party in Hong Kong to petition for their release. They demanded the release of the 12 people and the delivery of mooncakes, hoping that the Liaison Office would be “compassionate” and pass the mooncakes on to their loved ones.
Twelve Hong Kong youths who participated in last year’s anti-sending campaign are wanted by Hong Kong police on charges of violating Hong Kong’s version of the National Security Law. They were allegedly attempting to sneak into Taiwan on a speedboat on Aug. 23 when they were intercepted by China’s Guangdong Provincial Coast Guard in southeastern Hong Kong waters and taken into custody in Shenzhen’s Yantian Detention Center.
The Chinese Communist Party pushed through a wide-ranging national security law in Hong Kong in June of this year. Since then, concerns have grown about Beijing’s efforts to tighten its grip on Hong Kong. Analysts point out that Hong Kong’s version of the national security law was implemented to punish vaguely defined political crimes such as subversion of the state.
Relatives of the 12 Hong Kong residents said that they were denied access to independent lawyers. According to the detention center, the 12 Hong Kong people had already chosen lawyers for themselves from a list of lawyers provided by the government, meaning that they all had so-called government-appointed lawyers, which is considered a serious flaw in China’s judicial system.
Five unnamed family members outside the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government of the People’s Republic of China chanted, “Send back our children,” “Meet with us immediately,” and “Refuse the government-appointed lawyers.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying tweeted on September 13 that the 12 Hong Kong detainees were “separatists. Analysts note that this labeling without a trial clearly shows the political angle that the Chinese authorities are taking in the case, and also reinforces the fears of many Hong Kongers that the detention of the 12 Hong Kongers could be prolonged, that the investigation could be prolonged, and that the case could be delayed indefinitely.
However, the New York Times reported on September 30 that, citing information from the Hong Kong government, the Shenzhen procuratorate is expected to formally arrest them in the coming days on charges of illegally entering the mainland. The maximum penalty for illegal smuggling is one year in prison, and if the court finds that they organized the smuggling, the maximum sentence is seven years in prison.
Hong Kong authorities, on the other hand, say they have provided “necessary and feasible” help to the families and will continue to do so.
The relatives of the 12 Hong Kong people said their chosen lawyers were denied access to their clients and were pressured by Chinese authorities to drop the case, Hong Kong localist activist Zou Jiacheng said in a statement read out Wednesday. The relatives also said the Hong Kong government had not provided any “concrete help” and that they had requested meetings with high-level officials.
Earlier, Hong Kong’s Liaison Office said in a statement Tuesday that demands for the release of the detainees were “absurd,” adding that those who supported the detainees were “behind the scourge of Hong Kong.
Some Hong Kong activists had planned to organize protests in support of the detainees on October 1, the 71st anniversary of the founding of the Chinese Communist Party, but their request to march was denied. Hong Kong authorities have restricted public gatherings of more than four people, citing security concerns and coronavirus precautions.
The Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China (HKASPDMC) said in a post on its Facebook page on September 30 that it would join representatives of friendship groups to go to the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in the People’s Republic of China (LOCPG) at 11:00 a.m. on October 1 “in reverse order to read out the statement and the situation of dissidents in prison in China and Hong Kong, urge the Chinese Communist Party to improve human rights, implement the promises made during the founding of the government, stop whitewashing peace, and respond to the demands made in the statement.
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