Hong Kong police detain veteran democracy activists in raids

[rooster59]

Hong Kong police detain veteran democracy activists in raids

By Jessie Pang

 

 

HONG KONG (Reuters) - Hong Kong police arrested 15 activists, including veteran politicians, a publishing tycoon and senior barristers, in raids on Saturday in the biggest crackdown on the city's pro-democracy movement since the outbreak of mass protests last year.

 

Among those detained on charges of illegal assembly were Democratic Party founder Martin Lee, 81, millionaire publishing tycoon Jimmy Lai, 71, and former lawmaker and barrister Margaret Ng, 72, according to media and political sources.

 

In all, one serving and nine former legislators were arrested, including veteran activists Lee Cheuk-yan and Yeung Sum.

 

Democratic legislator Claudia Mo, who was not among those detained, said the city government, led by Chief Executive Carrie Lam, was trying "into introduce a ring of terror in Hong Kong".

 

"They are doing whatever they can to try to silence, to take down, the local opposition," Mo said, pointing to upcoming legislative elections in September in which democrats hope to win back veto power in the city assembly.

 

Hong Kong police superintendent Lam Wing-ho told reporters that 14 people aged between 24 and 81 were arrested on charges of organising and participating in "unlawful assemblies" on Aug. 18 and Oct. 1 and 20 last year. He did not identify the 14.

 

Those days saw big and at times violent protests across the city.

 

Five of the 14 were also arrested for publicising unauthorised public meetings on Sept. 30 and Oct. 19, Lam said.

 

Police sources later confirmed the arrest of Leung Yin-chung, the only serving legislator to be caught up in the raids so far.

 

They were all due to appear in court on May 18, but Lam said more arrests were possible. Some of those arrested on Saturday were later released on bail.

 

The raids mark the biggest crackdown on the pro-democracy movement since the beginning of the anti-government protests across the former British colony in June last year.

 

NEW PUSH FOR SECURITY LAW

 

Marchers initially targeted a now-scrapped bill proposing to send suspects to mainland China for trial but protests broadened into demands for full democracy and a public investigation of the use of force by police.

 

After his release on bail on Saturday afternoon, Martin Lee said he did not regret his actions.

 

"I'm proud to have the chance to walk our democracy road with Hong Kong's excellent young people," he said.

 

A spokesman for the government's Security Bureau said that regardless of background or status, "in Hong Kong, everyone is equal before the law".

 

Authorities in Hong Kong have arrested more than 7,800 people over their involvement in the protests, including many on rioting charges that can carry jail terms of up to 10 years.

 

It is not clear how many of them are in custody.

 

The spike in arrests comes amid deepening fears over Beijing pressure on Hong Kong's independent judiciary.

 

In a special report published on Tuesday, three of Hong Kong's top judges told Reuters that the independence of the city's judicial system is under assault from the Communist Party leadership in Beijing. The judiciary, they said, is in a fight for its survival.

 

Saturday's arrests come after several months of relative calm amid a partial coronavirus lockdown but as Chinese and city government officials launch a new push for tougher national security laws for the city.

 

Hong Kong returned to Beijing in 1997 under a "one country, two systems" formula that guarantees it broad freedoms not seen in mainland China, and a high degree of autonomy.

 

A previous attempt to draft a national security law for Hong Kong, known as Article 23, was met with mass protests in 2003 and abandoned.

 

Hong Kong government and security officials have recently described some of the democracy movement's actions as being close to terrorism.

 

Authorities are increasingly using the threat of terrorism to justify the need for new national security laws, a requirement under the Basic Law - the mini-constitution that guarantees Hong Kong's broad freedoms and outlines its relationship with Beijing.

 

(Reporting by Jessie Pang, Anne Marie Roantree, Greg Torode; Writing by Greg Torode; Editing by Robert Birsel, Gerry Doyle and Ros Russell)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2020-04-19

 

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[cornishcarlos]

Under cover of Covid... 

Another country making the best use of the virus distraction ????

[terryw]

The time is soon coming when the US and UK remove legal support for Hong Kong's international trade in finance.

 

[rasmus5150]

Why call it Hong Kong police, when this is clearly Beijing Police in poor disguise.

[spiekerjozef]

53 minutes ago, car720 said:

if the CCP are not stopped now then in a few years we will all be learning to speak Chinese.

Still a lot better then that horrible US accent.

[evadgib]

Quote

A Foreign & Commonwealth Office spokesperson said:

"We are concerned about the arrests of a number of political figures in Hong Kong, and are following these cases closely. We expect any arrests and judicial processes to be conducted in a fair and transparent manner.
The right to peaceful protest is fundamental to Hong Kong's way of life and as such is protected in both the Joint Declaration and the Basic Law. It is essential that any protests are conducted peacefully, and that the authorities avoid actions that inflame tensions. The authorities should focus on rebuilding trust through a process of meaningful political dialogue".

Hong Kong protests: Foreign Office statement, 18 April 2020

[samran]

Still don’t understand why the UK don’t have the balls to grant anyone born before the handover full UK citizenship. 
 

 

[evadgib]

8 minutes ago, samran said:

Still don’t understand why the UK don’t have the balls to grant anyone born before the handover full UK citizenship. 

British National (Overseas) explains.

[Dap]

It is China's game and they sure as H*ll ain't gonna' drop the ball on this one, unless it's on someone's head.

[Dap]

1 hour ago, spiekerjozef said:

Still a lot better then that horrible US accent.

Have fun learning the language then mate.

[samran]

18 minutes ago, evadgib said:

British National (Overseas) explains.

Doesn’t explain anything except that they’ve granted a lower class of British citizenship. 

[evadgib]

20 minutes ago, samran said:

Doesn’t explain anything except that they’ve granted a lower class of British citizenship. 

The explaining would therefore seem to have worked. 

[samran]

6 minutes ago, evadgib said:

The explaining would therefore seem to have worked. 

Look, i know the history of why they didn't give it. I didn't need a wikipedia post to tell me about BN(O) citizenship.

 

My larger question is why the British government doesn't do it now.

[nobodysfriend]

7 hours ago, rooster59 said:

Among those detained on charges of illegal assembly were Democratic Party founder Martin Lee, 81, millionaire publishing tycoon Jimmy Lai, 71, and former lawmaker and barrister Margaret Ng, 72, according to media and political sources.

 

In all, one serving and nine former legislators were arrested, including veteran activists Lee Cheuk-yan and Yeung Sum.

 

They just ' jumped on the occasion ' to arrest some people they wanted to arrest a long time already .

They did not dare to do it before due to the ongoing protests in Hongkong .

But now the worlds attention is distracted by Covid .

I am scared that the Chinese regime will now become even more totalitarian and suppressive as they realized how important they became in a world of ' globalization ' that depends on them in many ways . 

Even in times of Covid the world struggles without face masks and ventilators ' made in China ' ...

Produce locally and better quality .

[roquefort]

How convenient........................

[evadgib]

6 hours ago, samran said:

Look, i know the history of why they didn't give it. I didn't need a wikipedia post to tell me about BN(O) citizenship.

 

My larger question is why the British government doesn't do it now.

The country you're constantly slagging off isn't big enough. I assumed you knew & understood that too.

Edited April 19, 2020 by evadgib

[samran]

4 minutes ago, evadgib said:

The country you're constantly slagging off isn't big enough. I assumed you knew & understood that too.

Oh, touchy...
 

I think you mistake having questions about policy as slagging off. Which is what insecure little people in the rule Britannia mob tend to do. 
 

Portugal has given citizenship to Macau and East Timorese, it’s former colonies. So your precious island isn’t going to get flooded based on that experience - and hence my question. 

 

[yuyiinthesky]

12 hours ago, rooster59 said:

A previous attempt to draft a national security law for Hong Kong, known as Article 23, was met with mass protests in 2003 and abandoned.

 

Hong Kong government and security officials have recently described some of the democracy movement's actions as being close to terrorism.

 

Authorities are increasingly using the threat of terrorism to justify the need for new national security laws, a requirement under the Basic Law - the mini-constitution that guarantees Hong Kong's broad freedoms and outlines its relationship with Beijing.

Please stand with the people of Hong Kong in their fight to keep their freedoms.

[evadgib]

26 minutes ago, samran said:

Oh, touchy...
 

I think you mistake having questions about policy as slagging off. Which is what insecure little people in the rule Britannia mob tend to do. 
 

Portugal has given citizenship to Macau and East Timorese, it’s former colonies. So your precious island isn’t going to get flooded based on that experience - and hence my question. 

Slagging UK off in multiple threads has nothing to do with policy & everything to do with point scoring. I knew that when I posted the link but I guess I was bored, +

[samran]

7 hours ago, evadgib said:

Slagging UK off in multiple threads has nothing to do with policy & everything to do with point scoring. I knew that when I posted the link but I guess I was bored, +

Yes yes, slagging it off so much that my wife and I we’re saying just last night the first thing we’d do when this virus thing is all over is rent a house in Kent for a month and go for long walks in the countryside. 
 

Amazing how your bias against any opinion that you disagree with you interpret as hating your country? You might want to have a think about that.