A Chinese court on Wednesday sentenced ten of the so-called \u201cHong Kong 12\u201d \u2014 a group of pro-democracy activists detained by Chinese authorities \u2026<\/b>
\nA Chinese court on Wednesday sentenced ten of the so-called \u201cHong Kong 12\u201d \u2014 a group of pro-democracy activists detained by Chinese authorities on August 23 as they tried to flee the city for Taiwan \u2014 to up to three years in jail on charges linked to \u201cillegally crossing a border.\u201d The Yantian District People\u2019s Court in Shenzhen city, located in southern China\u2019s Guangdong province, sentenced Tang Kai-yin to three years in prison for \u201corganizing others to cross a border illegally\u201d and Quinn Moon to two years\u2019 imprisonment on the same charge. \u201cOn the morning of December 30th, our court publicly sentenced Deng Jiran [Tang Kai-yin] and nine others,\u201d the court said in a statement posted to its Weibo account. Weibo is a Chinese social media platform. The court additionally fined Tang Kai-yin 20,000 yuan ($3,060) and Quinn Moon 15,000 yuan ($2,300), according to the announcement, which was seen by Radio Free Asia (RFA). The court sentenced the other eight defendants to seven months imprisonment for \u201cillegally crossing a border\u201d and fined them 10,000 yuan ($1,533) each. They were identified in the court statement as Cheng Tsz-ho, Cheung Chun-fu, Li Tsz-yin, Andy Li, Wong Wai-yin, Kok Tsz-Lun, Jim Man-him, and Cheung Ming-jyu. \u201cThe [eight above defendants] were accomplices in jointly committed crimes, and were therefore given lighter sentences,\u201d the Yantian District court said. The two remaining detainees of the Hong Kong 12 group \u2014 Liu Tsz-man and Hoang Lam-fuk \u2014 were released and sent back to Hong Kong on Wednesday. Chinese authorities had previously said they would not pursue charges against them, as they were under the age of 18 at the time of their detention in August. \u201cHong Kong police confirmed that the pair had arrived back in Hong Kong and were being held in Tin Shui Wai police station at noon local time,\u201d RFA reported Wednesday. Liu may still face charges of arson and skipping bail upon her return to Hong Kong. Hoang faces the same charges as well as a charge of \u201cpossession of an offensive weapon\u201d linked to his involvement in the pro-democracy protest movement that overtook Hong Kong last year. The China Coast Guard initially detained the Hong Kong 12 on August 23 as they attempted to flee to Taiwan via speedboat. At the time of their detention, all 12 of the activists faced prosecution in Hong Kong after being charged with crimes linked to their participation in the city\u2019s protest movement. Hong Kong authorities brought the charges against the activists through a then-recently passed National Security law, which China imposed on the city to quell the pro-democracy uprising. The U.S. on Monday said the Hong Kong 12 were \u201cfleeing tyranny\u201d following China\u2019s crackdown on Hong Kong via the National Security law, which effectively stripped the city of its traditional semi-autonomy and limited freedoms. \u201cCommunist China will stop at nothing to prevent its people from seeking freedom elsewhere,\u201d a U.S. embassy spokesperson told Agence France-Presse on Wednesday when asked about the sentencing of the Hong Kong 12.<\/p>\n