Did a Chinese court go too far in punishing 10 fugitive Hongkongers?

A Shenzhen court jailed eight defendants guilty of illegal border crossing for seven months, while the two organisers of the crime will stay behind bars for up to three years

According to some opposition activists and observers, the sentences are far greater than what the crimes warranted, while pro-establishment figures say the terms are appropriate

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Police vehicles exit the Yantian People’s Court on Monday night. Photo: AFP

Tony Cheung,Natalie WongandThomas Shum

Published: 9:00pm, 30 Dec 2020Updated: 11:33pm, 30 Dec 2020

The punishment meted out by a Chinese court to 10 Hong Kong fugitives has reopened divisions across the political divide as mainland lawyers and pro-establishment politicians insisted the defendants had been shown leniency, while opposition activists and other legal professionals decried the “chilling effect” of the sentences.

The 10 fugitives, who mainland authorities arrested at sea as they tried to flee Taiwan in August, were sentenced to between seven months and three years’ jail by a Shenzhen court on Wednesday, while their two underage peers were handed over to Hong Kong police.

Eight of the defendants were accused of illegally crossing the border, and two – Tang Kai-yin and Quinn Moon, the sole woman in the group – charged with organising the crime, according to an announcement by the Yantian People’s Court.

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Tang was sentenced to three years in jail, while Quinn received two years. The other eight were jailed for seven months.

All but one of the 12 fugitives, aged 16 to 33, had already been charged in Hong Kong with offences arising from last year’s anti-government protests. Activist Andy Li has not been formally charged, but was arrested in August on suspicion of money laundering and collusion with foreign forces, an offence under the Beijing-imposed national security law.

A family-appointed mainland lawyer, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the punishments handed to Tang and Quinn were “too heavy”.

“If their role only involved buying or driving the boat as a group, it shouldn’t constitute organising the crime,” he said, in a reference to Tang’s role.