Shenzhen court to deliver verdict on Hong Kong fugitives on Wednesday morning, while Chinese embassy slams British foreign secretary’s ‘secret trial’ concerns
- Chinese judicial system ‘brooks no distortion, discredit or interference’, spokesman says, after Britain’s Dominic Raab expresses concerns
- Ten of the 12, all of whom were arrested at sea while attempting to flee to Taiwan in August, reportedly pleaded guilty on Monday
Government-appointed lawyers have told the relatives of 12 Hong Kong fugitives arrested while attempting to flee to Taiwan that a mainland Chinese court will hand down verdicts for 10 of them on Wednesday morning, according to a concern group that has been assisting the families.
“The statement of the UK side shows no respect for facts and confuses right and wrong,” the embassy’s spokesman said, using nearly identical language to that directed at US criticisms a day earlier.
The 10 fugitives reportedly pleaded guilty on Monday at what the Yantian People’s Court in Shenzhen said was an open trial attended by family members. However, journalists from the Post and other Hong Kong media organisations, as well as a group of Western diplomats, were refused access. Family members also said they were not allowed to attend the hearing.
Eight of the 10 defendants stand accused of illegally crossing the border and two of organising the crime. It has not yet been determined if two underage detainees will be prosecuted.
Owen Chow Ka-sing, an opposition activist of the Hong Kong concern group, said several families were notified that the court would announce the verdict at 10.30am on Wednesday.
Among them was the father of 29-year-old defendant Li Tsz-yin who quoted a government-appointed lawyer as telling him over the phone: “Your son pleaded guilty and behaved well.”
