The mother of one of 10 Hongkongers jailed in mainland China for an illegal boundary crossing was on Wednesday morning denied a visit to her son on grounds of COVID-19 risks.

She managed to see her son Li Tsz-yin, 31, just two days ago on Monday at the Shenzhen detention center in Guangdong province where he was remanded, but this time officials turned her away, citing the pandemic.

Prison officials who blocked her visit agreed to arrange a virtual meeting between the two, the mother told Apple Daily through a concern group that had been helping the Hongkongers’ families. She was currently staying in Shenzhen awaiting a reply from them, the group said.

Li was among 12 Hongkongers captured by Guangdong coast guard at sea in August while en route to Taiwan in a speedboat. They were facing charges in Hong Kong connected with anti-extradition bill protests in 2019.

A Shenzhen court in late December sentenced 10 of the 12 to jail terms of between seven months and three years for unlawfully crossing the boundary that separated Hong Kong from mainland China. The remaining two were handed over to Hong Kong police as they were underaged at the point of arrest.

Eight of the 10 then stayed on at the Shenzhen detention center instead of being moved to a jail facility because, given the amount of time spent in custody before trial, they would finish serving their seven-month sentences this March.

On Monday, Li’s mother and the family of another of the 12, Kok Tsz-lun, met Li and Kok for the first time since the arrests.

She talked with her son behind a glass panel on the telephone for one hour. Li told her that he had recovered from a skin allergy and had not experienced any bullying or beating, according to the mother.

Owen Chow, a member of the concern group, said Li’s mother and the other nine affected families were hoping to visit their children once or twice in the near future.

Click here for Chinese version

---------------------------------

Apple Daily’s all-new English Edition is now available on the mobile app: bit.ly/2yMMfQE

To download the latest version,

iOS: bit.ly/AD_iOS

Android: bit.ly/AD_android

Or search Appledaily in App Store or Google Play