Lawyer for one of 12 Hongkongers arrested at sea says mainland China prosecutors refused to handle his complaint over client access

Two attempts to visit his detained client in Shenzhen denied, before authorities dismiss complaint, lawyer Lu Siwei says

The 12 detained Hongkongers were reportedly trying to flee to Taiwan when arrested for illegal entry last month by mainland China’s coastguard

Reading Time:2 minutes

The dozen Hong Kong residents were intercepted at sea last month by mainland China’s coastguard. Photo: Weibo

Published: 8:05pm, 10 Sep 2020Updated: 10:38pm, 10 Sep 2020

A lawyer representing one of the 12 Hongkongers arrested while reportedly trying to flee to Taiwan says prosecutors in mainland China have refused to handle his complaint over client access without first confiscating his phone and recording the process.

Human rights lawyer Lu Siwei, who is based in Chengdu, attempted to lodge his grievance with the Yantian People’s Procuratorate in Shenzhen after officers from a detention centre in the mainland city twice prevented him from meeting his client.

He is the legal representative of a woman who was among the dozen intercepted at sea by the mainland coastguard on August 23, and detained in Shenzhen since then on suspicion of illegal entry. The group were reportedly sailing to Taiwan to seek political asylum.

Lu said a prosecutor responsible for handling petitions and complaints, surnamed Chen, told him the process would have to be videotaped and his phone seized for the proceedings to get under way.

Declining those conditions, the lawyer said: “I expressed that such an act had no legal grounds and was discriminatory against me.” The officers then refused to handle the complaint, Lu added.

A video obtained by the Post shows Lu filming himself being led to a huge empty lobby of the procuratorial agency, where he said he waited for an hour.

“They said it was midday and just left me there,” he said. “It would be a very long road to complaints.”

His next stop will be the Public Security Bureau of Shenzhen where he plans to lodge separate complaints.