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SCMP Reporter

THREE Hong Kong men accused of smuggling cars have spent almost five years in a Shenzhen jail without standing trial.

  Relatives of the men yesterday appealed to Shenzhen and Guangdong authorities, in a bid to be reunited with the trio after the handover.

 They said Yeung Kim-yuen, 44, Ho Ping-kei, 43, and Yip Shue-lam, 43, and seven Vietnamese and Burmese crew aboard the vessel Sunrise 2, bound for Vietnam, were stopped and detained by Shenzhen police near Zhuhai in October 1993.

 Mainland officers fired warning shots, intercepted the ship and accused the crew of smuggling 31 cars and two motor cycles - although relatives claim the men had valid transportation documents.

 The men have been detained in Shenzhen Shangmeilin No 6 Prison, and relatives have not been allowed to visit.

 A trial date was set for June 6, four years and eight months after they were arrested - and only after local members of the National People's Congress had helped family members press their case.

 But the judge adjourned the case and no date had been fixed for another hearing, relatives said.

 In Hong Kong yesterday, family members said the vessel's cargo of cars and motorbikes had been sold off for $8.2 million and the seven foreign crewmen were released in July 1994.

 Under China's judicial code, smuggling is punishable by death.

 Yip's sister, Yip Siu-fong, questioned the conduct of mainland authorities.

 'It's ridiculous that the overseas crewmen were released before the trial began,' she said.

 'My father is already over 80. His only living hope is for me to be reunited with my brother so that we can all witness the handover together.'  Choi Chi-ming, a defence witness for Yeung, said: 'I understand that law-enforcing authorities can keep 30 per cent of smuggled goods that they recover as a bonus.

 'That's why they rushed to sell all the cars before the trial began.

 'This case is only a tip of an iceberg.

 'Most of the victims do not wish to expose their misfortune to the public.

 'I hope Chinese leaders like Jiang Zemin and Li Peng, who will attend the handover ceremony, acknowledge the situation. Some law-enforcers are abusing their rights and acting against Chinese law.'  According to government figures, 28 Hong Kong residents have been detained in China in the past three years. Ten have yet to be released.



Trio held in jail 5 years without trial