WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 08th July, 2022) A US grand jury indicted two current and former homeland security officials and three Chinese nationals for allegedly attempting to intimidate and silence critics of Beijing inside the United States, the Justice Department said in a press release.
"A grand jury returned an indictment in Federal court in Brooklyn charging five defendants with various crimes pertaining to a transnational repression scheme orchestrated on behalf of the government of the People's Republic of China (PRC)," the release said on Thursday.
Among the defendants are US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) deportation officer Craig Miller and former DHS agent Derrick Taylor, the release said, who were charged with obstruction of justice for destroying evidence related to a list of US-based dissidents targeted in the scheme.
Three of the defendants - Fan Liu, Matthew Ziburis, and Qiang Sun - destroyed the artwork of a Chinese dissident in Los Angeles, California, whom they spied on using surveillance equipment in the artist's workplace and car, according to the release.
Four of the defendants were arrested in March and June, but Qiang Sun remains at large, the Justice Department said. If convicted, the defendants face prison sentences ranging from 20 to 30 years, the release added.
