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Cardinal Joseph Zen has filed an appeal with Hong Kong’s High Court following his conviction last month for failing to register a fund that helped pay for the legal fees and medical treatments of Hong Kong pro-democracy protesters.
Cardinal Joseph Zen and five others were found guilty on Friday of failing to register a fund that helped pay for the legal fees and medical treatments of Hong Kong pro-democracy protesters.
Days after Cardinal Joseph Zen’s defense lawyer made his closing arguments in the West Kowloon Magistrates’ Court, one of the pro-democracy advocates on trial with Zen was arrested under Hong Kong’s national security law.
Lawyers defending Cardinal Joseph Zen and five other Hong Kong democracy activists took the floor Monday in the West Kowloon Magistrates’ Court, the same courthouse where a Protestant pastor was sentenced to one year in jail for sedition last week.
The trial of Cardinal Joseph Zen resumed in Hong Kong on Wednesday, days after the Vatican announced the renewal of its agreement with Beijing.
On Tuesday, Cardinal Joseph Zen’s second day in court in Hong Kong, five witnesses were cross-examined and the magistrate ruled that there was sufficient evidence to justify a trial.
As Cardinal Joseph Zen begins his trial in Hong Kong, a number of Catholic leaders and human rights activists have come out with statements of support for the 90-year-old bishop emeritus.
The date set for Cardinal Zen’s trial is Sept. 19.
The news emerged shortly after the Vatican said that it was concerned to hear of reports of his arrest.
The Holy See said it was ‘following the development of the situation with extreme attention.’