Relatives In Plea To Duterte Over HK Drug Suspects

Relatives of four Hong Kong men accused of manufacturing and possessing drugs in the Philippines are using President Rodrigo Duterte's visit to Hong Kong this week to push for a fair trial for their loved ones.

The men were detained off Subic Bay in 2016 on what police described as a “floating crystal meth laboratory”. Since then, there have been more than a dozen court hearings over the case, but the legal proceedings are yet to be concluded.

Ahead of Duterte's expected arrival on Tuesday night, family members presented a petition to the Philippines Consulate, urging the president to ensure the men get a fair trial.

Democratic Party lawmaker James To, who has been helping the families, noted that the trial judge was earlier replaced after receiving death threats and a witness had told the court that an initial search found no drugs in the defendants' bags.

To said he hoped the petition would draw Duterte's attention to the men's "unfair" treatment.

"While we welcome the president's visit to Hong Kong, we ask him to look into the case and to help. We support the Philippines to fight against drugs and we want their system to free the innocent and imprison [only] the genuine drug traffickers," the legislator said.

Leung Wing-lam, the daughter of one of the four men, said her family has paid HK$800,000 in lawyers' fees and they can't afford to spend any more on his defence. She added that the prison conditions had made her father ill.

"The place is very small, like a Hong Kong cage home, with 100 people. It is very hard to live there," Leung said, adding that it could be very hot in the cell in the morning and very cold by nighttime.

An official from the consulate said he would pass the families' petition to the president's office.