Press Release - Response to the secret trial of the 12 Hongkongers, December 28 2020
The trial of the 10 of the 12 Hongkongers, held incommunicado for 128 days, has commenced in secret at Yantian District People's Court in Shenzhen today. The date of the two minors’ closed-door procuratorate hearing is not yet announced. The Court announced today that the defendants would face sentencing at a later date. The Families of the 12 hereby demand the authorities not to delay the release of the 12 with excuses regarding trial proceedings.
Although the Chinese court claimed this morning that the trial would be open to the public, they have denied the access of families, lawyers, journalists, and diplomats to attend the trial on the grounds that the auditorium was full, which renders the trial a de facto secret trial. The government-appointed lawyers refused to answer the family's calls and respond to the family's messages.
Regardless of the future development of the case, the basic rights of the 12 Hongkongers have already been deprived by the Chinese authority. The unfair court proceedings is evidence of an obvious, draconian political persecution.
The families of the 12 have been in great agony throughout their detention. They are now only asking for the safety of their children and their earliest return to Hong Kong.