National security law: Hong Kong court allows retired Catholic leader Joseph Zen to attend funeral of Pope Benedict while under investigation for alleged collusion
- In closed-door hearing, Zen’s lawyers applied to West Kowloon Court to retrieve his Hong Kong passport
- Principal Magistrate Peter Law allows Zen to travel while under investigation for alleged collusion
A Hong Kong court has allowed retired Catholic leader Joseph Zen Zu-kiun who is being investigated for alleged collusion with foreign forces under the national security law to attend the funeral of former pope Benedict in the Vatican, the Post has learned.
In a closed-door hearing on Tuesday, Zen’s lawyers applied to West Kowloon Court for the return of his Hong Kong passport so that he could make it to the 95-year-old former pontiff’s funeral, to be held at 9.30am local time on Thursday.
It was understood that Principal Magistrate Peter Law Tak-chuen, one of the few jurists approved by Hong Kong’s leader to oversee national security proceedings, had allowed Zen to travel between Wednesday and Sunday, after the prosecution raised no objection.
The retired bishop and former head of the Hong Kong diocese was also ordered to surrender his passport to police upon his return to the city. He is believed to be the first person arrested on suspicion of a national security offence to be allowed by a court to leave the city while under investigation.
Zen, who turns 91 next week, saw his passport confiscated after he was arrested, along with five other activists behind the now-defunct 612 Humanitarian Relief Fund last year on suspicion of colluding with foreign forces. The fund was set up in June 2019 for those involved in the anti-government protests that year.
The six were fined up to HK$4,000 (US$512) each in November after being convicted of failing to register the fund with the force as required under the Societies Ordinance. After the court’s ruling, their travel documents remained in police custody while the national security investigation continued.
The fund’s five former trustees – Zen, singer Denise Ho Wan-see, former Lingnan University academic Hui Po-keung, and ex-opposition lawmakers Margaret Ng Ngoi-yee and Cyd Ho Sau-lan – have filed an appeal to the High Court against their convictions. No hearing dates have been fixed yet.