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A Chinese court docket has sentenced 10 pro-democracy activists who sought to flee Hong Kong by speedboat earlier this 12 months to between seven months and three years in jail.
A Chinese court docket on Wednesday sentenced 10 pro-democracy activists who sought to flee Hong Kong by speedboat earlier this 12 months to between seven months and three years in jail.
The Yantian District Court within the southern metropolis of Shenzhen gave the harshest sentence to one of many two accused organizers of the ill-fated Aug. 23 try to succeed in Taiwan.
The defendants are believed to have feared they’d be prosecuted for his or her actions in help of Hong Kong’s pro-democracy motion.
Hong Kong media experiences stated at the very least one could have had a warrant out for his arrest underneath a troublesome new nationwide safety legislation imposed on the semi-autonomous territory by Beijing in June.
The court docket stated it had held a non-public listening to for 2 underaged suspects and wouldn’t cost them for illegally crossing the border despite the fact that they pleaded responsible.
Another organizer was given two years whereas different members got seven months in jail.
Relatives of the defendants stated they had been prevented from hiring their very own attorneys and that the accusations are politically motivated. The defendants might be sentenced to as much as a 12 months in jail for crossing the border and 7 years for organizing the journey.
The sentences seem like a warning to opposition activists towards making an attempt to evade provisions of the nationwide safety legislation.
Hong Kong has already frozen belongings and issued arrest warrants for a number of authorities opponents who’ve fled overseas, together with to the United Kingdom, which ruled the territory till the handover to Chinese rule in 1997.
Hong Kong was promised it might be allowed to keep up its separate political, financial and social programs for 50 years following the handover, together with significantly larger freedoms of speech and protest than permitted in mainland China.
Critics say Chinese strikes, together with the imposition of the nationwide safety legislation, widespread arrests of critics and the cancellation of elections for the Legislative Council, have all however nullified that pledge.
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