Four of the accused in the Suncity junket trial have had their requests for Habeas Corpus denied by the Court of Final Instance.
According to TDM Canal Macau, Celestino Ali, Si Tou Chi Hou, Cheung Yat Ping and Chan Che Hee attempted to use the legal avenue to be released from pre-trial detention.
Celestino is facing some 15 years in prison, while the other three face 10 year sentences.
But, despite some legal representatives telling the broadcaster that there was hope their clients could be released on Thursday, the Court of Final Instance denied the appeals.
One such lawyer, Pedro Leal, noted that the accusations make use of a gang law from the 1990s, with the defendants aiming to prove that their detention is illegal as the law only allows for detention of accused for up to 24 months.
Many of those detainees have been held since November of 2021.
Leal notes that the original law means authorities should either have released the accused 24 months after their detention, or have a definitive court decision – one which has not yet been made. This has not taken place, due to the appeals presented by the four regarding the allegation of organized crime.
The lawyer further tells TDM Canal Macau that the law does allow for detention for up to three years if the crimes involved violence, something Leal states has not been expressed by the authorities.
