A long wait
“Eight months after his trial ended, a Hong Kong truck driver detained in Shenzhen since his arrest on firearms smuggling charges more than two years ago is still waiting to learn his fate,” reported the South China Morning Post on June 3, 2003.
“As his family grows increasingly desperate, experts on mainland law have called the delay unacceptably long and say it is illegal. Despite repeated inquiries from the Hong Kong government on behalf on Tse Kin-man’s family, officials in Shenzhen are still unable to say precisely when the verdict will be delivered.
“Tse, 30, was arrested in Huanggang port on April 6, 2001, after Shenzhen customs officers claimed to have found an AK-47, two pistols and air rifles in his truck, despite testimony from Hong Kong’s Police Commissioner Tsang Yampui that they were imitation firearms.
“The mainland court told the Hong Kong government office in Beijing last week that it was aware of the delay but “was too busy at the moment” to deal with it, according to the defendant’s sister, Mandy Tse.
“Tse was tried again last September and was told a verdict would be returned at a later date after further consideration of the evidence. He was remanded in a Shenzhen detention centre and prevented from seeing relatives.
“After an eight-month wait for a verdict, his family yesterday said they were emotionally and financially close to the edge of collapse.
“Hong Kong experts in mainland law said the detention period had gone well beyond the legally allowed period.
“Ms Tse said the family had filed an application to the Guangdong court early this year but had received no response. [Chinese law expert Priscilla] Leung said the mainland prosecutors were using a loophole to extend Tse’s detention indefinitely.”