Twelve Hongkongers detained in Shenzhen may be deported back to their home city as early as February after standing trial, a Chinese lawyer appointed by relatives has said.

The group of protesters was intercepted at sea when fleeing to Taiwan on Aug. 23 and has been held in custody since then. Lu Siwei, a lawyer appointed by relatives of protester Quinn Moon, is among the attorneys who have not been able to visit their clients as each of the defendants is forced to accept two government-appointed lawyers.

Ten of the Hongkongers are under prosecution, while the two underage detainees in the group will face a closed-door hearing. A judgment was expected to be handed down in the next two months, Lu wrote in an article. Given the beginning of the Lunar New Year holidays on Feb. 12, the trial should start around Jan. 1, with a judgment to be passed either on the same day or within the month, Lu predicted.

Although mainland laws did not oblige authorities to provide defendants’ relatives with the prosecution documents, the government-appointed lawyers should at least give them a copy and explain the content to them as part of professional ethics, Lu said. Family members should contact the court to fight for their rights to have two relatives present at the hearing under existing rules, as there would unlikely be livestreaming, the lawyer added.

For the two minors who were not prosecuted, Lu explained that the crime of illegal border crossing fell under section 6 of China’s criminal law, which stated offenses that warranted sentences of less than a year committed by teenagers under 18 could lead to a probation period of six to 12 months without prosecution. The pair might be sent back to Hong Kong soon, and their family members should contact the procuratorate to get the details of the probation, Lu said.

The remaining 10 would likely be convicted, following which the government-appointed lawyers would mitigate for them, Lu said. It was difficult for him to comment on the cases of Tang Kai-yin and Quinn Moon, who were charged with organizing an illegal border crossing, without seeing the prosecution document, Lu added.

However, they should not be convicted if they only made contact to secure the boat, steered the vessel, prepared food or designed the route without receiving any fees, Lu argued.

Tang and Moon might be given two years in jail suspended for three years, Lu said. The other eight people, charged with an illegal border crossing, would likely be handed jail sentences of fewer than six months, or a period that was the same as their detention, he said.

The optimistic result would be that the 12 would be deported back to Hong Kong before the Lunar New Year, pending discussion between Hong Kong and the mainland over how to execute the suspended sentences.

The 12 would have 10 days to appeal after the judgment, thus they might be forced to stay in the mainland for an additional 10 days after their release until the period ended, Lu said.

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