Nov. 25 (UPI) — Hong Kong Cardinal Joseph Zen, who was arrested in May in connection with anti-government protests, was fined more than $500 with five others for failing to register a protester relief fund as a society.
Zen, 90, serves as Hong Kong’s bishop emeritus and was taken into custody along with lawyer Margaret Ng, local entertainer Denise Ho Wan-sze and Hui Po-keung, a former educator at Lingnan University.
The four were all fined $511 in West Kowloon Magistrates’ Court over their involvement with the 612 Humanitarian Relief Fund. Sze Ching-wee, the fund’s secretary, was also fined.
The organization provided financial support for those arrested or injured during Hong Kong pro-democracy protests. It was shut down in August.
Zen has been a prominent and longtime critic of the Chinese Communist Party. Zen, who used a walking stick in court, could have received a prison sentence.
“I hope this case would not be linked to religious freedom,” Zen said after the hearing. “I am a supporter of humanitarian work.”
Zen’s arrest brought protests from the United States and other countries while the Vatican said it was “following the evolution of the situation with extreme attention.”
The Catholic Church in October renewed a controversial secret agreement with Beijing on the appointment of Roman Catholic bishops there. U.S. officials warned it would further marginalize underground Chinese priests loyal to Rome.
