Campaigners for 12 Hongkongers arrested while fleeing to Taiwan demand government discloses details on ‘police spy plane’

Name: Family of 12 detained Hongkongers say government lied about capture
Uploaded: 2020-10-08T14:50:34.000Z
Duration: 2 min 58 s
Description: Family of 12 detained Hongkongers say government lied about capture

Plea for information on official flight operating soon before mainland coastguard’s interception of boat carrying those wanted for protest-related crimes

Police deny any involvement in the capture of the fleeing residents, city leader accuses activists of smearing the force

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Campaigners for the 12 fugitives detained in Shenzhen, who include their relatives, demonstrate outside the Government Flying Service headquarters on Lantau Island. Photo: Sam Tsang

Jack LauandDanny Lee

Published: 10:50pm, 8 Oct 2020Updated: 4:32pm, 9 Oct 2020

Opposition activists have urged the Hong Kong government to disclose details about an official aircraft they say police used to monitor a speedboat carrying 12 fugitives fleeing the city to Taiwan soon before they were arrested by mainland China’s coastguard.

Campaigners for the dozen, who were trying to escape prosecution over their roles in Hong Kong’s anti-government protests, staged a demonstration on Thursday outside the Government Flying Service (GFS) headquarters to accuse city authorities of colluding with their mainland counterparts over the sea capture.

Citing leaked information obtained from a whistle-blower, the group of activists and family members of the detained Hongkongers said a government plane was flying on August 23 under police orders off the coast near Po Toi O Village in Sai Kung, which police previously gave as the location from where the speedboat departed at 7am that day.

“The [flight] mission was a police operation, as seen in the logbook. Police had a very clear role in this,” activist Lester Shum said at the demonstration.

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Family of 12 detained Hongkongers say government lied about capture

The campaigners, made up of four activists and four family members, demanded that the government released information about the flight, including reconnaissance records and radar data, and explained whether police were spying on the speedboat that the 12 used to leave the city.