Cardinal Joseph Zen, bishop emeritus of Hong Kong, is scheduled to be tried September 19 to 23 for being a trustee in the Humanitarian Relief Fund.
The cardinal and five members of the pro-democracy movement are accused of failing to properly register this fund in violation of the national security law.
CHRISTOPHER ARIF BULKAN
Vice-chair, Human Rights Committee
The committee was deeply concerned about the overly-broad interpretation of Hong Kong’s National Security Law, the NSL, which was passed by the National People’s Congress of China without consultation with the Hong Kong Since its enactment in 2020, the NSL has reportedly led to the arrests of over 200 people, including 12 children.
This comes months after the 90-year-old cardinal was arrested for his involvement in the Humanitarian Relief Fund. It was founded to pay the legal fees of protesters detained in the 2019 pro-democracy demonstrations.
Cardinal Zen is known for being an outspoken critic of the Chinese Communist Party and the Fund is known to have helped thousands of pro-democracy supporters.
KG
