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Cardinal Joseph Zen (right) in 2007 with the late Pope Benedict XVI.
Photo: ANTONIO CALANNI / AP
A 90-year-old Hong Kong cardinal arrested last year for supporting pro-democracy activists has been allowed to attend the funeral of former Pope Benedict XVI.
travel to Rome.
A judge decided at a hearing behind closed doors, the AFP news agency learned from court circles.
Cardinal Joseph Zen, who is critical of Beijing, is allowed to leave Hong Kong for five days and will receive his passport back for the time being.
Zen is one of the highest-ranking Catholics in Asia.
His passport was confiscated by the Chinese authorities in May 2022 because Zen had supported a now-defunct fund that provided financial support to democracy activists.
The funeral of Benedict, who died on New Year's Eve, will take place on Thursday in the Vatican.
Benedict elevated Zen to cardinal status in 2006.
Accusation: "Conspiracy with foreign powers"
Cardinal Zen was one of five democracy activists arrested in May on charges of "conspiring with foreign states and powers."
The group had funded Hong Kong residents arrested during pro-democracy protests three years ago.
In 2020, the so-called security law was passed in the former British crown colony of Hong Kong, as a result of which the pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong were stopped.
When Britain returned Hong Kong in 1997, Beijing agreed to respect the democratic freedoms that prevailed there for another 50 years, based on the “one country, two systems” principle.
Critics accuse Beijing of suppressing these freedoms with the “security law”.
Many democracy activists are now in prison or have fled abroad.
him/dpa