Advertisement
Advertisement

Freed drug users bitter about ordeal

Freed Hong Kong detainees sarcastically 'thanked' Donald Tsang Yam-kuen yesterday for their 15-day ordeal in a Shenzhen detention centre - but the government said the chief executive had nothing to do with it.

Arrested for drug-taking at two Shenzhen entertainment venues on July 4, 119 people were released yesterday after an administrative detention that was originally set at five days but was suddenly tripled just as they were due for release.

Announcing the extended term on July 9, officials at the Longgang detention centre, where they were held, said the increase was a result of a deal with Mr Tsang, who agreed at a meeting with acting Shenzhen mayor Wang Rong last month to co-operate in combating cross-border drug trafficking and abuse.

'We should have left on July 10. But we were suddenly told by the detention centre officials on July 9 that we could not leave until July 20,' said Fong Yuk-kun, one of those freed yesterday morning after paying a fine of 1,000 yuan.

Ms Fong said officials told them Mr Tsang had asked for the postponement in the name of helping Hongkongers fight drug abuse.

'We thank him so much that we had to suffer tough days at the detention centre without human rights or dignity,' she said.

A woman who went to the detention centre to pick up her husband also complained. 'I read in newspapers that the detention ... was an agreement between Mr Tsang and the Shenzhen mayor,' she said. 'We really thank Mr Tsang. Many Hong Kong families have been affected because of his words.'

But the Security Bureau said yesterday Mr Tsang had not intervened on the length of the sentences and had not asked at the meeting with Mr Wang for increased terms for Hongkongers arrested for taking drugs.

A professor from Beijing's China University of Political Science And Law, Ong Yew-kim, said administrative detention usually ranged from one to five days, with a maximum of 15. He believed Shenzhen police might have decided on their own initiative to triple the term after taking into account the meeting of the two city governments. 'It is unlikely that Mr Tsang ordered or requested Shenzhen to extend the detention period,' Professor Ong said.

The detainees, mostly under 30, were not allowed to walk out of the detention house yesterday even though friends and relatives were waiting to collect them. Instead they were loaded into vans and sent in batches to the Huanggang crossing.

One of those released, Ma Pei-tak, expressed worries about a rumour that their home-return permits, which they use to enter the mainland, would be suspended. 'Many of us commute between Hong Kong and Shenzhen every day. Some work in Shenzhen or even have a family here,' he said.

Shenzhen authorities could not be reached for comment on the issue. In Hong Kong, a Security Bureau spokeswoman said it was a matter for the Shenzhen government.

The government urged the released detainees to seek treatment and rehabilitation.

Post