Four Chinese lawyers were barred from visiting their clients — some of the Hongkongers arrested at sea while fleeing to Taiwan — even after one of them obtained an official certification.

The lawyers are the latest to be barred from meeting any of the 12 Hong Kong people, who have been detained in Shenzhen for a month. The 12 were allegedly involved in Hong Kong’s ongoing protests and have yet to be allowed to meet any lawyers appointed by their families. So far, a total of nine lawyers have been barred from the arrestees.

Authorities previously required lawyers to present notarial certifications to prove they were indeed appointed by the clients' families. One of the lawyers said authorities were “playing tricks” by denying meetings even to those who obtained the required notarial certifications.

Lawyers Liang Xiaojun, Fan Biaowen, Song Yusheng and Wu Li tried to visit their clients at the Yantian district detention center on Wednesday morning. Liang, Fan, Song and Wu were appointed to represent Andy Li, Cheung Chun-fu, Tang Kai-yin and Cheng Tsz-ho, respectively, but were told by authorities that their clients had each hired two other lawyers. Seven lawyers have been told so far that their clients had hired other legal representatives.

When the lawyers arrived at the detention center, two staff members — both not in uniform and had their work permits covered — met them one by one in the presence of the center’s deputy head of security. Fan possessed a notarial certification from his client’s family, while the other three did not.

The lawyers also had authorization letters from their clients' families, but a female staff member told them that the letters must have an additional judicial seal for transmission — a requirement the lawyers demanded to know the legal grounds for.

The staff member then left briefly and returned to show them a notice issued by China’s highest court and the Ministry of Justice regarding the legal effect of notarial certification in relation to Hong Kong. The lawyers argued that the requirement was for civil and economic cases but not for criminal cases.

The staff member said she would ask her superior for answers. The lawyers demanded a contact number and were only given a general number.

Liang pointed out that his client, who had been in detention, had no way of knowing that his family had appointed a lawyer for him and could have accepted the lawyers appointed by the authorities as a result. Liang said he could not confirm whether his client truly had a lawyer but would continue to follow up on the case.

As the case is sensitive — especially since it involves Li, who has been involved in national security crimes in Hong Kong — it was difficult for relevant parties to obtain notarial certificates, with some lawyers even refusing to help, sources told Apple Daily. Lawyers who provide notarial certificates have also asked for much higher fees, up to tens of thousands of Hong Kong dollars, sources said.

Some Chinese lawyers did not obtain notarial certificates over fears that their identities may be leaked during the review process by China Legal Service. Some lawyers who were exposed in the past were pressured by authorities to drop the case. It was suspected their identities were leaked during notarization.

In accordance to Chinese laws, the police the decision on whether to prosecute the 12 people should be made today, and the procuratorate office should decide whether to approve their arrest within seven days.

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