Shenzhen:
The trial in China of a group of Hong Kong pro-democracy activists who attempted to escape the city by speedboat for sanctuary in Taiwan opened Monday, as the United States urged the quick release of dissidents it says “fled tyranny”.
Ten of the so-referred to as “Hong Kong 12” had been in court in the southern city of Shenzhen facing charges linked to an illegal border crossing.
Chinese authorities took them into custody just after their boat was intercepted on August 23.
The hearing started as scheduled on Monday afternoon, AFP understands, and was most likely to run into the evening.
But court officials would confirm practically nothing about the case and the trial — like numerous in China’s opaque legal technique — was not open to foreign reporters or diplomats.
At least two of the group face about seven years in jail for organising the attempted escape from a city exactly where democracy activists final year led enormous protests against Beijing’s rule.
Some of the group had been currently facing prosecution in Hong Kong, exactly where China has imposed a draconian national safety law that has stamped out the city’s protest movement.
“Their so-called ‘crime’ was to flee tyranny,” a US embassy spokesperson told AFP, ahead of their scheduled court look by means of video hyperlink.
Urging their “immediate release”, the spokesperson stated: “Communist China will stop at nothing to prevent its people from seeking freedom elsewhere.”
The US has applied Hong Kong’s evaporating freedoms as a stick to beat China with in current months.
China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs went into a familiar attack mode more than the US comments.
Washington should “immediately stop interfering in China’s internal affairs through the Hong Kong issue and immediately stop interfering in China’s judicial sovereignty,” spokesman Zhao Lijian told reporters.
Secret trial
Families of the accused — the youngest of whom is just 16 — have referred to as for the hearing in the Shenzhen court to be broadcast reside, just after they had been unable to attend due to the brief notice for the trial and Covid-19 specifications.
They had been only notified of the trial date on Friday, though their lawyers have been barred from meeting with the detainees. Authorities as an alternative have appointed state-authorized legal representation.
In a joint letter more than the weekend, the households stated they “strongly condemn” the authorities’ choice to hold the trial in “de facto secret” at Yantian District People’s Court.
“We urge governments to send embassy personnel to the hearing to guarantee a proper and fair trial by the courts in Shenzhen,” they stated, noting that these detained include things like British, Portuguese and Vietnamese nationals.
The safety law that now blankets Hong Kong provides authorities sweeping powers of prosecution for acts deemed terrorism, secession, subversion or collusion with foreign entities.
The city had enjoyed one of a kind freedoms considering that its handover from former colonial energy Britain in 1997, with a deal promising a “one country, two systems” arrangement for 50 years.
Beijing says the new safety law was required to restore peace and stability but critics have condemned it as a fatal attack on Hong Kong’s freedoms.
China has a history of placing dissidents on trial about the Christmas and New Year period to stay clear of Western scrutiny.
Amnesty International stated there was tiny possibility the group would get a fair trial.
“They have so far been deprived of their basic rights, including the right to defend themselves through legal representation of their own choosing,” Amnesty Hong Kong’s Programme Manager Lam Cho Ming stated in a statement.
Eight of the group are accused of an illegal border crossing, though two are suspected of organising for other individuals to cross the border.
Two minors face non-public hearings.
Since Beijing imposed the safety law in June, Taiwan has emerged as a sanctuary for Hong Kong activists — quietly turning a blind eye to dissidents turning up without having suitable visas or paperwork.
()