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Judgment date of Hong Kong 12 up in the air despite claim verdicts due on Wednesday

蘋果日報 2020/12/30 06:40


The families of 10 Hongkongers charged in Shenzhen over their attempted sail to Taiwan in August have learned that the verdicts will be handed down on Wednesday, just two days after the trial on Monday.
Some family members received calls from mainland-arranged lawyers on Tuesday saying that Shenzhen’s Yantian court would deliver its judgments on 10 of the 12 Hongkongers on Wednesday morning, according to the Save 12 HK youths concern group.
An officer who answered Apple Daily’s call at the Yantian court was unable to confirm if a judgment date had been fixed and claimed to have no idea about the families’ revelations. It also remains unclear when court proceedings will begin in regard to the other two defendants, who are underage.
The European Union on Tuesday called for the immediate release of all 12 Hongkongers and their swift return to Hong Kong. It noted that the trial was held behind closed doors, shutting out foreign diplomatic representatives.
A brother of Tang Kai-ying, one of the 10 Hongkongers, refuted claims by mainland Chinese authorities that their family members had attended the trial and could check updates on the Shenzhen court’s website.
The families had been given insufficient time to undergo COVID-19 quarantine needed to attend the Shenzhen trial, due to the short notice provided by mainland-appointed lawyers, he told Hong Kong public broadcaster RTHK.
It was only after Monday’s court proceedings had ended that those lawyers told the families the 10 Hongkongers had pleaded guilty, “behaved well and been cooperative” with the court, the brother said.
The lawyers also told them that they did not know when the next hearing would be held, he said, fearing that it would amount to an indefinite period in custody for the 12 Hongkongers.
Some families learned from the mainland-assigned lawyers that eight of the Hongkongers, who had no role in organizing the said illegal border crossing, could be jailed for less than seven months, said Owen Chow, a Hong Kong activist who had been helping the families.
The father of Li Tsz-yin, another of the 10 Hongkongers, said he was undecided about filing an appeal because of uncertainty over court proceedings in the mainland.
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