HONG KONG – Hong Kong police on Wednesday arrested about 50 pro-democracy figures for violating the new national security law by taking part in an unofficial primary election held last year to reduce their chances of legislator to control, according to political parties and local media, to enlarge.
Those arrested on suspicion of undermining include former lawmakers and pro-democracy activists, the South China Morning Post and online platform Now News reported.
The mass arrests have been the biggest fight against Hong Kong’s democracy movement since the Beijing National Security Act was introduced in the semi-autonomous region in June last year. Police did not immediately comment on the arrests.
At least seven members of Hong Kong’s Democratic Party – the city’s largest opposition party – have been arrested, including former party chairman Wu Chi-wai. Former lawmakers Helena Wong, Lam Cheuk-ting and James To have also been arrested, according to a report on the party’s Facebook page.
Benny Tai, a key figure in Hong Kong’s protests in 2014 and a former law professor, was also arrested by police, according to local media reports. Tai was one of the main organizers of the by-elections.
The home of Joshua Wong, a prominent pro-democracy activist serving a 13 1/2 month prison sentence for organizing and participating in an unauthorized protest last year, was also raided, according to a tweet from Wong’s report has been posted.
According to reports, based on local media reports about the arrests, all the democracy candidates who participated in the unofficial pre-election have been arrested.
Police also went to the headquarters of Stand News, a prominent pro-democracy online news site in Hong Kong, with a court order to hand over documents to help with an investigation into national law, according to a live video from Stand News . No arrests were made.
In recent months, Hong Kong has already jailed several pro-democracy activists, including Wong and Agnes Chow, for their involvement in anti-government protests, and others have been indicted under national law, including the media mogul and outspoken pro-democracy activist. Democracy activist Jimmy Lai.
The security law criminalizes acts of undermining, secession, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces to intervene in the city’s affairs. Serious offenders can be sentenced to life in prison.
Pro-democracy activists and lawmakers held an unofficial primary election last July to determine which candidates to choose in a now-postponed legislative election that would increase their chances of a majority seat in the legislature. Gaining a majority would allow the pro-democracy camp to vote against the bills they see as pro-Beijing, blocking budgets and paralyzing the government.
More than 600,000 Hong Kongers voted in the by-election, although pro-Beijing lawmakers and politicians criticized the event, warning it could violate the security law imposed by Beijing on the city to quell differences of opinion after months of protests against The government.
Hong Kong CEO Carrie Lam said in July last year that if the primary election was aimed at resisting any policy initiative of the Hong Kong government, it could fall under the subversive state power, a violation under national law. .
Beijing also called the by-elections illegal, calling them a “serious provocation” of Hong Kong’s electoral system.
Following the handover of Hong Kong to China by the British in 1997, the semi-autonomous Chinese city operated a “one country, two systems” framework that offered freedoms not found on the mainland. In recent years, Beijing has claimed more control of the city and criticized Hong Kong’s freedoms.
The legislative election, which was originally scheduled to take place in September, was later postponed by a year after Lam said holding elections would be a risk to public health due to the coronavirus pandemic. The camp for pro-democracy has denounced the postponement as unconstitutional.
In November, all pro-democracy lawmakers in Hong Kong resigned en masse after Beijing passed a resolution leading to the disqualification of four from its camp, leaving a largely pro-Beijing lawmaker behind.
“Beijing has once again failed to learn from its mistakes in Hong Kong: that oppression generates resistance, and that millions of Hong Kong people will persevere in their struggle for their right to vote and stand for election to a democratically elected government, “Human rights activist Maya Wang, China’s senior researcher, said in a statement on the arrests on Wednesday.
In further remarks to The Associated Press, Wang said it was not clear what provisions of the law were quoted to justify the arrests, but that local authorities seemed less concerned about the substantive content.
“The nature of the national security legislation is a draconian legislation that allows the government to arrest people for long term and possibly put them in jail for exercising their constitutionally protected rights,” Wang said.
“The veneer of the rule of law is also applied to the mainland of China without any significance. “Hong Kong looks more like the mainland of China, but where one ends and the other begins, it is difficult to distinguish,” she said.