Macau (MNA) – Two defendants convicted in the case of former Prosecutor General Ho Chio Meng, businessmen Wong Kuok Wai and Mak Kim Tai, are seeking immediate release on the grounds that they have been in custody for more than two years without a trial conclusion.
The defense of the two businessmen filed a petition for habeas corpus on Thursday, local broadcaster TDM Radio Macau reported on Friday. According to the broadcaster, Wong and Mak claim that they should have been be set free last Wednesday.
The Court of Final Appeal (TUI) has not yet ruled on the appeal presented by the defendants, filed near the deadline for pre-trial detention in February, after the Court of Second Instance (TSI) decided to maintain the conviction and separate the case.
Wong and Mak have been sentenced to 14 and 12 years in prison, respectively, for crimes which include criminal association, fraud, and money laundering in collaboration with the former Prosecutor General, who was sentenced to 21 years in prison in July 2017, after being found guilty on more than 1,000 charges of illegal activities.
According to TDM, the businessmen remain in custody because the court understands that they are already serving a sentence for the crime of fraud – one of the three crimes they are still to stand trial for.
The defendants request for immediate release is to be decided shortly by the TUI, with a date for the decision yet to be published on the Court’s website.
