International rights group Amnesty International is calling on Beijing to respect the rights of 12 Hongkongers still detained in Hong Kong, 100 days after they were arrested at sea by the Chinese coast guard.
It added: “Their families have repeatedly been denied access to them, and at least six lawyers have been threatened by the Chinese authorities to make them drop this case.”
The 12 detainees, aged 16 to 33, were arrested on Aug. 23 after they set out from Hong Kong on a boat, allegedly trying to escape to Taiwan and claim political asylum.
On Sept. 30, the prosecutor’s office in Yantian district in southern China’s Shenzhen city, announced that the 12 were formally arrested after being charged with either “suspicion of illegally crossing the border” or “suspicion of organizing others to illegally cross the border.”
Most recently on Nov. 27, the Yantian branch of the Shenzhen municipal police department issued a statement, saying that it completed its investigation of the 12 detainees and would transfer the case to district prosecutors to determine whether to prosecute them.
Many Hongkongers have fled to Taiwan since June last year, to avoid prosecution by the Hong Kong government for participating in an ongoing pro-democracy movement. Mass demonstrations were ignited in June last year when millions took to the streets in opposition against a proposed extradition bill, which would have allowed Hong Kong authorities to send people to China for trial. That bill has since been scrapped but protesters have continued to voice other demands, such as universal suffrage in city elections.
Mr. Chan, one of the locals who initiated the gathering on Nov. 29, told the Hong Kong edition of The Epoch Times, that they wanted to do something to raise awareness about the detainees’ plight. He hopes that they might soon be united with their families in Hong Kong.
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