A barrister yesterday refused to disclose the whereabouts of Andy Li Yu-hin as he appeared in court representing the activist for the first time.
Li's younger sister said the barrister, Lawrence Law Tat-hung, is not the lawyer the family arranged for Li - one of the eight fugitives sent back to Hong Kong after serving a jail term on the mainland for illegal crossing. To this date, the family has not been informed where Li is remanded.
Li, 30, was charged with conspiracy to commit collusion with a foreign country or with external elements, endangering national security.
He also faces another count of conspiracy to assist an offender and one for possession of ammunition without a license.
During the hearing at West Kowloon magistrates' courts yesterday, the prosecution told chief magistrate So Wai-tak that Li would be quarantined until April 4. So adjourned the case to April 7.
Li's sister yesterday told the media that Law was not the barrister instructed by the family to represent Li and she did not know about Law until she read the news. She said Li had earlier asked the family to arrange a lawyer for him in Hong Kong.
When asked by reporters if Li was the one to choose him, Law did not give an answer. He hung up during a call when reporters pointed out that Li's family members said they did not know him.
Working for the Olympia Chambers in Central, Law focuses on cases involving commercial disputes, defamation, land law, as well as employment, discrimination and sexual harassment.
Li had returned to Hong Kong on March 22 with seven others after completing his seven-month sentence for illegally crossing into Chinese waters during the attempt to flee to Taiwan by speedboat.
Sources have said Li is being held in solitary confinement at the Siu Lam Psychiatric Centre in Tuen Mun after being charged under the national security law. It is understood that he was detained by a "secret unit" of the Correctional Services Department.
