Arrest protest leaders

Hong Kong police arrest protest leaders

Pro-democracy figureheads held on suspicion of unlawful assembly.

By MICHELLE WONG, CLIFFORD LO AND PHILA SIU

This story is being published as part of a content partnership with the South China Morning Post. It originally appeared on scmp.com on August 30, 2019.

Hong Kong pro-democracy activists Joshua Wong and Agnes Chow were arrested on Friday for their involvement in an unlawful assembly, police have announced.

Wong was arrested on three charges of organising, inciting and taking part in an illegal assembly during the besieging of the Wan Chai police headquarters on June 21, while Chow was detained on charges of inciting and taking part in the same illegal assembly.

Sha Tin district council member Rick Hui Yui-yu was also arrested in Kwun Tong on Friday morning, according to his assistant, surnamed Tsang. Police said Hui, 31, was arrested on suspicion of obstructing officers in the execution of their duty in relation to the July 14 clashes at New Town Plaza shopping mall in Sha Tin.

Police also arrested independence campaigner Andy Chan on Thursday night on suspicion of rioting and assaulting a police officer during the Sheung Shui anti-parallel traders protest. He was stopped from boarding a plane leaving for Tokyo at Hong Kong airport.

Wong and Chow were key figures during the Occupy protests of 2014 while Chan, also an Occupy activist, led the banned Hong Kong National Party. Their arrests come on the eve of a proposed mass protest that has been banned by police.

On the June 21 siege of police headquarters in Wan Chai, thousands of demonstrators barricaded entrances and pelted eggs at the building, as they made their demands for a complete withdrawal of the now-shelved extradition bill and an exoneration of those arrested in previous clashes.

Wong and Chow are leaders of the pro-democracy outfit Demosisto which has been campaigning for democratic self-determination of Hong Kong. Chow was disqualified last year from taking part in Legislative Council elections.

A third member of the party, Ivan Lam Long-yin, was also charged with inciting others to take part in an unauthorised assembly. He was said to be out of town and did not show up in court.

In a statement on Friday, Demosisto insisted that the extradition protests were leaderless and the party was not spearheading them.

“We are very angry about the police creating a chilling effect and white terror through a large-scale arrest of protesters on the eve of August 31,” the party said.

August 31 marks the fifth anniversary of Beijing’s stringent “831 Decision” on Hong Kong’s democratic reforms and protesters had planned to launch another mass demonstration before they were banned by police.

The party alleged the arrests were politically driven as it involved “movement leaders” which the Chinese Communist Party had named. “[The arrests] are to paint a picture that the anti-extradition movement was pushed by some masterminds behind the scene, as to neglect the residents’ five demands,” it said.

Wong, who served time in jail for his role in the 2014 Occupy movement, was detained early on Friday on his way to the MTR station, according to the Demosisto party.

A police source said Chow was arrested at her home in Tai Po, while Wong was detained on the street in Ap Lei Chau at about 7am on Friday.

Both are being held for questioning at police headquarters in Wan Chai.

The party’s Facebook page said Wong, 22, was heading to South Horizons MTR station when he was pushed into a private car and taken to police headquarters.

Seen as one of the leaders of the 2014 Occupy movement, Wong was jailed in August 2017 for six months for storming the government ­headquarters compound at ­Tamar, Admiralty, which sparked the 79-day protest.

A police spokesman confirmed the arrest of a 29-year-old man surnamed Chan on Thursday night at the airport. He was arrested for rioting and assaulting a police officer, the spokesman said.

On Thursday night, pro-independence activist Andy Chan Ho-tin wrote on his Facebook page that was he was stopped by officers from boarding a plane.

The force told the co-founder of the Hong Kong National Party that he was involved in another case handled by the organised crime and triad bureau and that he would be arrested soon, according to Chan’s post.

The 29-year-old had not updated his page since posting the Facebook message shortly before midnight on Thursday.

On August 1, police arrested eight people, including Chan, at an industrial building unit, where they seized 10 baseball bats, 20 sharpened walking sticks, two bows and six arrows, metal balls and several cartons of protective gear such as helmets and gas masks.

The police move on Chan came around the time riot officers were clearing protesters on the third night of chaos this week outside Sham Shui Po Police Station.

Police made several arrests near to the station late on Thursday during another dispersal of protesters, who were demanding justice for the female demonstrator who suffered a serious eye injury.

Earlier this week, police rejected the Civil Human Rights Front’s plan to march from Central to Beijing’s liaison office in Sai Ying Pun on Saturday. The front has been appealing against the ban.

Speaking on a radio programme on Friday, the front’s convenor Jimmy Sham Tsz-kit said if they lost their appeal, the march would be postponed.

“The front can only apply for another date for a march. We will not organise an unlawful march,” he said.

The group is behind the biggest marches held in Hong Kong since the eruption of the political crisis in early June, sparked by the now-abandoned extradition bill, which would have allowed criminal suspects to be sent back to mainland China.

The anti-government movement has five main demands, including the bill’s complete withdrawal, the establishment of an independent inquiry into police’s handling of protests and genuine universal suffrage.