Press release

Trial of the Shenzhen 12: Foreign Secretary's statement

UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab has expressed his deep concern at trial of the Shenzhen 12 in China.

This was published under the 2019 to 2022 Johnson Conservative government

Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said:

We are deeply concerned that members of the Shenzhen 12 were tried in secret today, having been given just three days’ notice of their trial. Diplomats from Britain and a number of other countries, tried to attend the court proceedings but were denied entry.

The Shenzhen 12 have not had access to lawyers of their choosing, raising further serious questions about access to legal counsel in Mainland China. We expect China to uphold the rule of law and conduct trials in a fair and transparent manner, consistent with the basic requirements of international human rights law.

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Updates to this page

Published 28 December 2020