SW News: The criminal trial of Cardinal Joseph Zen Ze-kiun will resume on October 26 after a Hong Kong magistrate ruled that there was enough evidence to try the 90-year-old regarding a relief fund for pro-democracy protesters.
Principal Magistrate Ada Yim issued the ruling on the second day of hearings at West Kowloon Magistrates’ Courts on September 27.
Cardinal Zen and five other trustees are accused of failing to properly register 612 Humanitarian Relief Fund, an organization that gave financial and legal aid to people detained during protests in 2019.
Other trustees of the now closed organization include barrister Margaret Ng, singer Denise Ho, former lawmaker Cyd Ho, cultural studies scholar Hui Po-keung, and activist Sze Ching-wee. All six defendants pleaded not guilty to the offenses in May.
Radio Free Asia reported that the trial was adjourned until October 26 before the defense could call witnesses or make its case.
Cardinal Zen is among the most prominent pro-democracy campaigners in Hong Kong, a former British colony that became a special administrative region of China in 1997.
Zen was appointed cardinal in 2006 and has been an outspoken critic of China on matters regarding human rights, political freedom, and religious liberty.
He was first arrested in May on national security grounds, including alleged collusion with foreign agents.
Now, he is facing a lesser charge of failing to register the organization through the appropriate channels.
If found guilty, he will have to pay a fine of up to 10,000 Hong Kong dollars ($1,273) but is expected to be spared jail.
During the trial, the prosecution said the Fund raised US$34.4 million and that some of the money was used for political activities and non-charity events, including funding protest groups. They said the defendants should have registered the fund within a month of starting its operation.
The trial was postponed before the defense could call witnesses or make its case. This adjournment comes as China gets ready to renew its two-year pact with the Vatican, for the second time, relating to the appointment of bishops.
Cardinal Zen has been a vocal critic of the agreement since it was first signed in 2018. Terming it a “sellout”, he said the deal killed the “unofficial or underground” church community in China, whose leaders refuse to register with the state-run Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association.
It is reported that Beijing, which now directly controls Hong Kong, would be happy to have Cardinal Zen found guilty so as to restrain him from speaking against the Chinese regime.