Urgent Action: 12 Hongkongers Formally Arrested in China
Twelve Hongkongers arrested on 23 August 2020 by the Chinese coast guard were formally arrested on 30 September – two for allegedly organizing people to cross the border between Hong Kong and China and the other 10 for allegedly crossing the border. Having been detained for more than 45 days without access to their families and family-appointed lawyers, the 12 individuals remain at imminent risk of torture and other ill-treatment.
CHENG Tsz-ho (鄭子豪), CHEUNG Chun-fu (張俊富), LIU Tsz-man (廖子文), QUINN Moon (喬映瑜), TANG Kai-yin (鄧 棨然), LI Tsz-yin (李子賢), LI Yu-hin (李宇軒), WONG Wai-yin (黃偉然) and four other individuals were intercepted by coast guard officers from mainland China after leaving Hong Kong on a speedboat on 23 August 2020.
On 30 September 2020, Yantian District People’s Procuratorate announced that it has approved the arrest of the 12 Hongkongers. This means that the 12 individuals could remain in custodial detention for three months or more while the case is investigated further by the police. QUINN and TANG were arrested for allegedly “organizing other persons to secretly cross the border” and the ten others for “secretly crossing the border”.
The families have been urging the mainland Chinese authorities to ensure the rights of the 12 individuals, as well as calling on the Hong Kong government to provide more information.
On 20 September, some family members of the 12 detained individuals demanded the Hong Kong Police Force to provide more information about the arrest of the 12 individuals as the families believed that the Hong Kong police took part in the arrest operation. . According to the families, the Hong Kong police asked them questions about their campaigning efforts for the release of the 12 and how the families organized themselves. The police did not provide additional information and asked them to seek help at the Immigration Department.
According to an article by Hong Kong Secretary for Security John Lee and a government response to a media inquiry about the alleged violation of the rights of the 12 individuals, the Hong Kong government has made clear it has no intention of interfering with “the law enforcement of other jurisdictions”.
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