HONG KONG — A group of Hong Kong protesters who were arrested by the Chinese authorities while fleeing the city by speedboat were sentenced by a mainland court to between seven months and three years in prison on Wednesday, in the Chinese Communist Party’s latest offensive against pro-democracy activists. The case of the 12 protesters, who were caught in August by the Chinese Coast Guard while trying to seek refuge in Taiwan, was closely watched by Hong Kong’s beleaguered opposition movement. For the arrested protesters, that nightmare became a reality. Eight of them were sentenced to seven months’ imprisonment for illegally crossing a boundary. The protesters also were fined between 10,000 and 20,000 renminbi, or about $1,500 to $3,000.

Source: New York Times December 30, 2020 03:33 UTC