Last month, 12 Hong Kong people were intercepted by the Guangdong Coast Guard while absconding by boat to Taiwan, and were reportedly detained in the Shatian District Detention Center in Shenzhen. The families of the Hong Kong people involved went to the Hong Kong police headquarters in Wanchai on September 20 to file a report, demanding an investigation into the incident and urging the Hong Kong government to confirm the status of the 12 people.
According to Standpoint News, the families said in a statement to the media on the same day that both the Chinese and Hong Kong governments have not yet officially responded to the families’ four demands, but only used the excuse to shirk responsibility and confuse the public. The statement pointed out that the incident is still full of suspicions, no matter where the detainees are, the reason for denying lawyers access to them, or whether the mainland coastguard has entered Hong Kong waters to enforce the law, etc. The Hong Kong government uses all the official information from the mainland. The Hong Kong government used the official information from the mainland, but never contacted the families personally to explain the information or sent people to the mainland to understand and explain the doubts, which became a megaphone. Therefore, a group of family members decided to report to the Wanchai Police Headquarters today to find out the truth.
It is reported that the families made three demands to the Hong Kong government, including the date, time, location, process and whether there were any casualties during the arrest of the 12 people by the mainland coastguard; the Marine Department to provide the radar records of the vessel on the day of the incident, and the Marine Police to provide the patrol route and location on the day of the incident; and the Hong Kong government to send an officer to meet or talk to the 12 people to confirm their condition, and to ensure that the lawyer appointed by the families can meet with them.
The father of one of the arrested Hong Kong residents, Cheng Chi Ho, said that he had gone to the Tsuen Wan police station late last month to report his son’s disappearance, and the police immediately showed him an earlier conversation he had with his son in a communication software, and mentioned that his son had gone fishing. The father of another arrested Hong Kong citizen, Lee Tzu-Hsien, also asked to at least see his son’s photos or letters, even if he cannot see him now. The family has asked the government to confirm the status of the 12 people, either by meeting with them or by phone, and to ensure that a lawyer appointed by the family can meet with them.
In addition, the Secretary for Security of the Hong Kong Government, Mr. Li Ka-chiu, told the media on 20 March that the arrested persons have chosen two lawyers to represent them according to the list of lawyers provided by the mainland authorities. In response, Hong Kong legislator David Chu, who is assisting the families, questioned the fact that the mainland had assigned two lawyers to each person, rather than one, because according to Article 33 of China’s Criminal Procedure Law, a detainee may have one or two lawyers as his or her defense. He speculated that by assigning two lawyers to each of the 12 Hong Kong residents, the authorities could “break the quota” and prevent their families from appointing lawyers.
Radio Television Hong Kong reported the same day that at least four Chinese lawyers appointed by the families would be in Shenzhen this week to seek visits. The four lawyers, from different cities, are expected to visit their clients in Yantian Detention Center in the middle of this week, which is expected to be the largest number of family lawyers ever to visit the city. The family’s attorneys, Lu Siwei and Ren Quanniu, have recently failed in their attempts to visit their clients, and the detention center said that their clients have already appointed two other attorneys.
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