HONG KONG: Hong Kong police on Tuesday arrested eight people including two district councillors in connection with a peaceful pro-democracy demonstration last month on the Chinese University campus, Hong Kong Free Press reported citing local media.
Among those arrested was graduate and community organiser Arthur Yeung. Yeung was taken into custody by police at 7 am (local time), according to a post on his Facebook page.
Pro-Beijing administration in recent times has launched a crackdown against pro-democracy activists and politicians, and have several arrests since the passing of security law, which is deemed as draconian by people of Hong Kong and countries like the United States.
Around 100 students held a protest march during their graduation day on November 19 after their ceremony was cancelled owing to COVID-19 social distancing rules.
They displayed flags that read “Hong Kong, the only way out” and “Liberate Hong Kong, the revolution of our times,” sprayed graffiti of the slogans and sang the protest anthem Glory to Hong Kong. They marched peacefully from the local train station to the “Million Boulevard” walkway.
Around 40 officers from Hong Kong’s national security police department entered the campus to investigate after some of the slogans were deemed to be pro-independence.
The government, at that time, had said that the police “severely condemn the blatant violation of the National Security Law and criminal damage at the campus.
Meanwhile, Beijing’s Liaison Office also condemned graduates who participated in the rally for “promoting” independence and blatantly “tearing society apart.”
The spokesperson also slammed the graduates as being brutal and tainting the campus with their graffiti: “We firmly support the special administrative region’s national security bodies to enforce the law resolutely and speedily handle the case in accordance with law.”
The new arrests have come days after media mogul Jimmy Lai, the founder of the Apple Daily newspaper, on Thursday was reported to have been charged with fraud and then denied bail.
In August too, the tycoon was arrested under the controversial new national security law.
A number of former pro-democracy lawmakers have been arrested in the month of October over protests after the draconian national security law was imposed on the city by Beijing. The law criminalises secession, subversion and collusion with foreign forces and carries with it strict prison terms. It came into effect from July 1.
Several of those disqualified were sitting lawmakers, who were subsequently ejected from the parliament by Beijing overruling constitutional precedent and bypassing Hong Kong’s courts on November 11, sparking the mass resignation of the entire pro-democratic camp.
Several countries have criticised China, with the European Council saying the move to disqualify opposition lawmakers constituted a “further severe blow” to freedom of opinion in the city and “significantly undermines Hong Kong’s autonomy.”