Posted on 05/29/2022 6:25:25 PM PDT by marshmallow
Cardinal Zen and five others denied charges of allegedly failing to register a pro-democracy legal relief fund with Hong Kong police. The group awaits trial in September.
HONG KONG (LifeSiteNews) – Former Bishop of Hong Kong Cardinal Joseph Zen appeared in court Tuesday, charged with failing to properly register a fund which offered legal and financial assistance to pro-democracy activists.
90-year-old Zen, now retired, was arrested earlier this month under China’s controversial 2020 national security law alongside five other prominent figures – four of whom acted as trustees of the 612 Humanitarian Relief Fund, and the fifth as its secretary. The Fund is no longer in operation.
At the time, the group was arrested for “conspiracy to collude with foreign forces,” but they are yet to be charged with the apparent offence, which carries a possible life sentence.
The six detainees, including former opposition legislator and barrister Margaret Ng Ngoi-yee and activist and singer Denise Ho Wan-sze, will face trial on September 19 over their alleged failure to register the legal relief fund as a “society” in Hong Kong within the allocated timeframe. The penalty for breaking this security offence is a maximum fine of $10,000 HK ($1,274 US).
Zen and four of the others appeared before West Kowloon Magistrates’ Court Tuesday morning, where they each denied the charges, pleading not guilty.
(Excerpt) Read more at lifesitenews.com ...
Sort of like Nazi Germany when Catholics were rounded up under trumped up charges. Maybe if Zen had molested some altar boys the Pope would lift a finger in defense of him.
Hong Kong has many beautiful places to see. I’m glad that I had the opportunity to go there several years ago. I wouldn’t want to go there now.
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