When a Hong Kong truck driver was tried in China for gun smuggling, and waited over eight months in custody for a verdict

Tse Kin-man was arrested in 2001 when he drove from Hong Kong to Shenzhen and Chinese custom officers found an AK-47, two pistols and air rifles in his truck

Despite the firearms being fakes he was tried in a Shenzhen court, and eight months later was still in detention with the court not having reached a verdict

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Tse Kin-man (centre), a Hong Kong truck driver, enters Shenzhen Intermediate Court in 2002 where he was charged with firearms smuggling. Eight months later, he was still awaiting a verdict. Photo: SCMP

Published: 11:45am, 19 Apr 2024Updated: 4:16pm, 19 Apr 2024

“Eight months after his trial ended, a Hong Kong truck driver detained in Shenzhen since his arrest on firearms smuggling charges more than two years ago is still waiting to learn his fate,” reported the South China Morning Post on June 3, 2003.

“As his family grows increasingly desperate, experts on mainland law have called the delay unacceptably long and say it is illegal.

“Despite repeated inquiries from the Hong Kong government on behalf of Tse Kin-man’s family, officials in Shenzhen are still unable to say precisely when the verdict will be delivered.

“Tse, 30, was arrested in Huanggang port on April 6, 2001, after Shenzhen customs officers claimed to have found an AK-47, two pistols and air rifles in his truck, despite testimony from Hong Kong’s Police Commissioner Tsang Yam-pui that they were imitation firearms.

Trucker Tse Kin-man’s parents Tse Kam-muk (left) and Tse Shum-sum said their family had been brought to ruin by his treatment. Photo: SCMP

“The mainland court told the Hong Kong government office in Beijing last week that it was aware of the delay but ‘was too busy at the moment’ to deal with it, according to the defendant’s sister, Mandy Tse.