Tsang Chi-kin, who was shot in the chest by police in 2019, amid huge pro-democracy demonstrations on China's National Day, holding an X-ray of his wounds during an interview with Agence France-Presse in Hong Kong, on Oct. 7, 2020. (Photo: AFP)
A young man shot by Hong Kong police during democracy protests appeared in court on Thursday after spending more than a year in hiding, often in grim conditions controlled by people smugglers, police announced.
Tsang Chi-kin, 21, was shot in the chest as he and a group of protesters attacked police officers in October 2019, the first person struck with a live round during the months of huge and sometimes violent protests that rocked the city.
He survived his injuries and was later charged with rioting and assaulting police but skipped bail in late 2020 and vanished.
He resurfaced in police custody on Thursday with Beijing-aligned media reporting that officers swooped on Tsang and three others as they attempted to flee to Taiwan by speedboat.
Hong Kong's national security police declined to comment on whether the group planned to flee to Taiwan.
But at a briefing on Thursday, they detailed how the four -- aged between 16 and 24 -- had previously tried and failed to claim asylum at the United States consulate and then spent more than a year in hiding at the whim of a smuggling network.
Senior superintendent Steve Li said Tsang and his companions were desperate, near broke, "skinny and dejected" when officers detained them on Wednesday.
Li said members of a social media channel had promised to aid Tsang and the others in exchange for money, initially pushing the failed US consulate asylum but the group was turned away.
The channel members then allegedly hid Tsang and the others in a windowless industrial building with "very poor conditions" and when they switched hiding places they put the fugitives into sealed cardboard boxes during transport.
"Psychologically it was very bad, they felt like they were sold into indentured servitude," Li said.
Tsang and the others paid up to a total of HK$400,000 ($51,000) in smuggling fees and they were told to shoot fundraising videos -- all for nothing in return, according to police.
Police said they arrested a 34-year-old warehouse worker who assisted the smugglers and are tracking around 10 other suspects who have fled overseas, including to the United Kingdom.
Tsang appeared in court with shoulder-length hair and a subdued demeanor.
Prosecutors said Tsang presented an "extreme flight risk" and he was remanded in custody with the case adjourned to September 13.
