Rome Newsroom, Nov 25, 2022 / 03:02 am
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.
The 90-year-old cardinal and former bishop of Hong Kong was fined about $500 (HK$4,000). Each of the other trustees of the now-defunct 612 Humanitarian Relief Fund was fined the same amount.
Zen told reporters after the verdict on Nov. 25: “Although I'm a religious figure, I hope this (case) won't be associated with our freedom of religion. It's not related.”
The cardinal appeared at the West Kowloon Magistrates’ Court wearing a pectoral cross, clerical color, and a facemask. He used a cane to walk.