Two convicts for organizing the illegal border crossing were sentenced to two and three years in prison respectively. The other eight were convicted of participating in the border crossing and all received seven months in prison. The Yantian People’s Court said all 10 were guilty. All defendants also received fines ranging from $ 1,500 to $ 3,000.
Earlier Wednesday, China handed two suspects under the age of 18 who were also on the boat to Hong Kong police. Authorities in the southern city of Shenzhen said they had confessed to having crossed the border illegally but had not been charged.
All 12 were detained in Shenzhen for more than 100 days before this week’s trial, as their parents and politicians in Hong Kong, the United States and the United Kingdom pressed for their release. A group representing the families of the defendants said their loved ones were abused in Chinese custody and denied access to their lawyers.
Police and prosecutors in Shenzhen have previously denied allegations of assault, claiming that the 12 had access to legal advice, although the practice in mainland China of denying defendants their preferred lawyer by appointing government-elected counsel, in the past is well documented.
On Monday, a US State Department spokeswoman urged Beijing to release the 12 and allow them to leave the country, adding that their “so-called ‘crime’ was fleeing tyranny.”
“The treatment by the Chinese authorities of these 12 people, some of whom are minors, is appalling,” said the spokeswoman. “The Beijing authorities are continuing their campaign to eradicate the remaining rights and freedoms of the people of Hong Kong by falsely equating their system of government with the rule of law by party decision.”
The fate of the 12 activists has drawn a lot of attention both in Hong Kong and abroad, a sign of the city’s deteriorating political freedoms and climate since the adoption of a new national security law earlier this year. The law – imposed on the city by Beijing, bypassing Hong Kong’s semi-democratic legislature – punished secession, subversion and collusion with foreign forces, and has already had a tremendous chilling effect on politics and debate.
Chung had reportedly tried to flee the city in October by applying for asylum at the US consulate, but was turned down.
Escape options have become increasingly tight this year, exacerbated by closures and lockdowns around the world as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. What had been a viable, if risky, sea route to Taiwan was shut down when the Chinese Coast Guard made it clear that they were monitoring the waters around the city.
Carrie Lam, the city’s chief executive appointed by Beijing, has refuted any suggestion that the Hong Kong government was aware of or involved in the case before the 12 were arrested.
The fugitives had “chosen to flee, and during their flight they entered another jurisdiction and committed a crime by entering another place illegally,” she said in October. “They have to face the legal ramifications in that jurisdiction. It’s that simple and clear.”
The potential for prosecution in China has been a major source of opposition to a proposed extradition bill that sparked protests last year, and the fate of the 12 appears to have confirmed many of the concerns being felt in Hong Kong. The activists were allegedly denied access to proper legal representation and little information about their condition was provided.
Chinese courts – along with prosecutors and police – are overseen by the powerful Central Commission for Political and Legal Affairs of the Chinese Communist Party and its local branches.
In a statement, Yamini Mishra, Amnesty International’s regional director in Asia and the Pacific, said the sentences “handed down after an unfair trial expose the dangers of anyone being tried under the Chinese criminal system”.
“The Chinese authorities have shown once again to the world that political activists will not receive a fair trial,” she added.