Retired Hong Kong cardinal in court over protest defence fund

HONG KONG • Ninety-year-old retired Roman Catholic Cardinal Joseph Zen appeared in a Hong Kong court yesterday charged with failing to properly register a protest defence fund, after he was initially arrested under the city's national security law.

Zen, one of Asia's highest-ranking Catholic clerics, was among five prominent democracy advocates - including activist and singer Denise Ho and veteran human rights barrister Margaret Ng - detained earlier this month.

The group acted as trustees of a now-defunct fund that helped pay legal and medical costs for those arrested during huge and sometimes violent pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong three years ago.

They were arrested for "conspiracy to collude with foreign forces" but have not yet been charged with that offence, which can carry a life sentence under a security law imposed by Beijing in 2020.

Instead, all five of the fund's former trustees and its secretary were charged yesterday with failing to register it as a "society" with police - a non-national security offence that can incur a fine of up to HK$10,000 (S$1,750) for a first conviction.

All the defendants, apart from activist Cyd Ho who is already serving a jail sentence for unauthorised assembly, were present in court. They all entered a plea of not guilty.

The trial will begin on Sept 19, with the prosecution warning that they have 10 boxes of exhibits and eight hours of video footage to support their case.

The investigation into the "612 Humanitarian Relief Fund" was triggered when one of the group, cultural studies scholar Hui Po-keung, was intercepted at Hong Kong's airport on May 10 as he tried to leave the city to take up an academic post in Europe.

The investigation of the fund has also led to the first complaint made by the city's national security police about "professional misconduct" by the lawyers and barristers hired by the fund's beneficiaries.

Diplomats from multiple European countries, including Germany and France, attended yesterday's hearing.

Zen's arrest in particular has triggered outrage from Western nations, who have accused China of taking away the freedoms it once promised Hong Kong.

But on Monday, the city's security minister told local media the criticism was a "classic smearing campaign".

"To my understanding, the Vatican is a place to pursue justice and peace. If we did not act in accordance with the law because of one's role in the Holy See, then I think it would actually breach the Vatican's principle of justice," said Mr Chris Tang in an interview with the South China Morning Post.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE