Hong Kong: Men trying to flee to Taiwan on boat get jail sentence

Seven men in Hong Kong who tried to flee to Taiwan in a boat to escape protest related charges have been handed jail sentences. The jail sentences are between seven and 10 months long and hav been handed for acts to "pervert the course of justice."

Six of the men were jailed for 10 months, while Li Tsz-yin, 32, was jailed seven months. Li is currently serving a 3.5-year jail term for rioting and assaulting a policeman.

Defence lawyers had argued earlier that the men had already served time in a mainland jail. However, deputy district judge Newman Wong opined that the men had "given the public a sense of contempt for the judiciary and a deliberate challenge to the legal system".

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All of them faced pro-democracy movement-linked charges. The protests had rocked Hong Kong in 2019. Many of the men who were sentenced on Friday face separate criminal proceedings even now. This may see them jailed for longer.

At the time when it happened, the boat incident has fuelled tension between the US and China. US State Department had said that it was deeply concerned about the case and that detainees were being denied access to lawyers of their chioce.

One of those sentenced, Andy Li, is now in a Hong Kong prison awaiting sentencing for a charge of collusion with foreign forces under a China-imposed national security law - a case linked to jailed media tycoon and China critic Jimmy Lai.

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