2023-07-06 10:42:00
China is poised to resume a massive crackdown on pro-democracy activists in Hong Kong. Bounties were placed on activists who had fled abroad, and Hong Kong citizens believed to be related to them were arrested.
Successive prosecutions and arrests of pro-democracy activists
On July 5, Hong Kong police arrested four men for violating the National Security Law. According to the police, they sent the money they collected from their companies, social media and mobile apps to pro-democracy activists in exile abroad. It also “repeatedly posted inflammatory posts on social media platforms that incite hatred towards the Chinese government and the Hong Kong SAR government and insist on ‘Hong Kong independence’.” Local media, citing unnamed sources, reported that the four men were involved with “Punish Mee,” a mobile app that shares information regarding the Hong Kong pro-democracy movement. However, the police did not reveal the identities of the four people and who the overseas asylum activists they had applied for were.
Hong Kong police seized and searched the homes and offices of four people, securing documents and communication devices. The police are conducting an investigation and have not ruled out the possibility of arresting more citizens in the future.
According to reports from the AP and South China Morning Post, the suspects are former members of the Hong Kong pro-democracy party Demosisto. Demosisto is a political party founded in 2016 by Joshua Wong (a symbolic figure of Hong Kong’s pro-democracy movement, currently imprisoned) and Nathan Lo (lawyer, in exile). It was one of the main players in the democratization movement, but voluntarily disbanded following the implementation of the Hong Kong National Security Law in 2020.
On July 5, Ivan Lam, who served as the chairman (chairman) of Demosisto, was seen being arrested by the police in a building in Hong Kong. It was not yet known if he was one of four people arrested by the police for violating the National Security Law.
166 million won bounty for each Hong Kong pro-democracy activist
Prior to this, on July 3, the Hong Kong police announced that they had prosecuted eight pro-democracy activists living abroad, including Nathan Law, for violating the National Security Law. It also announced that it would pay a bounty of 1 million Hong Kong dollars (approximately 166 million won in Korean won) to anyone who helps arrest them. This is the first time a bounty has been offered to a person suspected of violating the Hong Kong National Security Law.
Asylum activists live in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia. Hong Kong police acknowledged that they might not arrest them as long as they were overseas, but warned that they would “track them to the end”. In addition, Hong Kong’s national security law has jurisdiction over other countries.
“The eight people (who live abroad) will be pursued for life, and bounties are available to anyone, including friends and relatives, who provide information leading to their arrest,” said Chief Executive John Lee, head of Hong Kong’s administration.
After passing the National People’s Congress (National People’s Congress) of China, the Hong Kong National Security Law, which came into effect in July 2020, has so far arrested more than 260 people in the city.
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