HONG KONG – CHINA Hong Kong press reports trial of Cardinal Zen postponed

It was to start today to finish on September 23. The head judge contracted Covid-19. The cardinal was accused, along with five democratic figures, of running an unregistered humanitarian fund. They dropped the original accusation of threat to national security. He could receive at most a financial penalty. Experts: “softened” the accusation for fear of international reactions.

Hong Kong () – The trial against Card. Joseph Zen Ze-kiun and five important figures of the democratic front. It was scheduled to start today at the West Kowloon Court, but the trial’s main judge, Ada Yim Shun-yee, has contracted Covid-19, according to various media outlets in the city, including the Sing Tao Daily.

The verdict was due to be issued on September 23, which will now probably be delayed a couple of days. The Prosecutor’s Office accuses the defendants of not having correctly registered a humanitarian fund of which they were trustees.

On May 11, police arrested the city’s bishop emeritus and the other defendants on the most serious charge of “collusion” with foreign forces, in violation of the draconian national security law imposed by Beijing in the summer of 2020. to silence pro-democracy movements. Without the national security threat charge, the defendants face a maximum fine of $1,750.

The 90-year-old cardinal will take the podium along with well-known lawyer Margaret Ng, singer and activist Denise Ho, former city deputy Cyd Ho, academician Hui Po-keung and activist Sze Ching-wee. Cyd Ho is already in jail for participating in an unauthorized demonstration. Numerous democratic personalities are also in prison for the same charge, among them the Catholic press tycoon Jimmy Lai.

Until it was shut down in October last year, the 612 Fund helped thousands of pro-Democrat protesters involved in the 2019 protests. The defendants have pleaded not guilty: their defenders maintain that the charity was not required to register under the Societies Ordinance. The defense also asks that the interpretation of the ordinance take into account the right of citizens to associate, enshrined in the local mini-constitution (Basic Law), an aspect that will highlight the level of freedom that still exists in the former colony. British.

Analysts point out that the authorities have most likely changed (and “softened”) the accusation for fear of an international reaction. In this regard, during the return flight from his apostolic trip to Kazakhstan, on September 16, Pope Francis said that he did not want to “qualify China as undemocratic”, given the complexity of that country: “Yes, it is true that there are things that They don’t seem democratic to us. Cardinal Zen will be tried in the next few days. He says what he feels, and you see that there are limitations there. But more than qualifying, I try to support the path of dialogue.”