Ten Hong Kong fugitives captured at sea jailed up to three years by Shenzhen court, two other underage suspects handed to city’s police
- Tang Kai-yin and Quinn Moon, convicted of organising the illegal border crossing, sentenced to three and two years, respectively
- The other eight defendants in group of 10 were each given seven months’ jail and fined 10,000 yuan
Ten Hong Kong fugitives arrested at sea in August by mainland Chinese authorities while trying to flee to Taiwan were sentenced to between seven months and three years in jail by a Shenzhen court on Wednesday, while two other underage suspects were handed over to the city’s police.
Tang Kai-yin and Quinn Moon, the only woman in the group, were convicted of organising the illegal crossing of the border by all 10, while the other eight were found guilty of doing so, according to an announcement by the Yantian People’s Court.
Tang was sentenced to three years in jail, and fined 20,000 yuan (US$3,000), while Quinn was sentenced to two years and fined 15,000 yuan.
02:55
Ten Hong Kong fugitives captured at sea jailed for up to three years on Chinese mainland
The other eight were jailed for seven months and ordered to pay a penalty of 10,000 yuan.
While some, including Hong Kong pro-establishment politicians, suggested the Shenzhen court was lenient, one mainland lawyer, several activists and the families of the 10 jailed fugitives insisted it was too harsh.
“Seven months was longer than what I thought,” said the mother of Li Tsz-yin, one of the eight handed the shorter sentences. “I will go to see him, so I want to know when, where and how frequently I can do so.”
Communist Party mouthpiece Xinhua, meanwhile, reported on Wednesday that Quinn tearfully told the court on Monday that she now understood “the fairness and strictness of the mainland’s rule of law”, and regretted doing “a lot of things that harmed the society and my family”.
