Media tycoon Jimmy Lai arrested by police in Hong Kong on April 8, 2020. – EPN / Newscom / SIPA
The police Hong Kong carried out a large-scale operation on Saturday against leaders of the pro-democracy movement, arresting 14 people for their support or participation to huge events who shook the Asian financial center last year.
Among those arrested is media tycoon Jimmy Lai, 72, founder of the opposition newspaper Apple Daily, arrested at his home. Parliamentarians or former parliamentarians Martin Lee, Margaret Ng, Albert Ho, Leung Kwok-hung and Au Nok-hin, accused of having organized and participated in illegal rallies in August and October, were also arrested, police said. .
Five other suspects are believed to have promoted banned protests in September and October. “Those arrested are charged or will be charged with crimes related to” such crimes, said Commissioner Lam Wing-ho. The 14 arrested will appear in court in mid-May.
Mike Pompeo considers these arrests “deeply worrying”
Jimmy Lai had already been arrested in February for his participation in a demonstration in August 2019, which the police had prohibited for security reasons. “I ended up being arrested. How do I feel ? I feel very relieved, “Martin Lee told reporters after being released on bail. “For so many years, so many months, so many young people have been arrested and prosecuted, even though I had not been arrested. I regret it, “added the 81-year-old lawyer, who had created the first political party in Hong Kong where he is considered the father of democracy. He said he did not regret his actions and was proud to support the youth of Hong Kong in their fight for democracy.
Hong Kong was shaken for several months in 2019 by huge demonstrations, sometimes interspersed with violence. They were originally prompted by a bill – now abandoned – to allow extraditions to mainland China, where citizens have fewer rights and where the justice system is far more opaque.
The head of the American diplomacy, Mike Pompeo, judged Saturday evening “deeply worrying” these arrests. “Politicized law enforcement is incompatible with the universal values of freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly,” the secretary of state wrote in a tweet.
Arrests of pro-democracy activists in Hong Kong are deeply concerning – politicized law enforcement is inconsistent with universal values of freedom of expression, association, and peaceful assembly.
– Secretary Pompeo (@SecPompeo) April 18, 2020
“Finishing blow for the concept of” One country, two systems “”
“Today’s arrests of pro-democracy leaders in Hong Kong are the coup de grace for the concept of” One country, two systems, “said Human Rights Watch director for China Sophie Richardson, alluding to the principle which guarantees in the city of freedoms which the Chinese of the continent do not have. “It is difficult to foresee the next initiatives of Beijing, but it seems that the leaders of Hong Kong will continue to allow abuses rather than to defend the rights of the inhabitants of Hong Kong,” she deplored.
The giant rallies of 2019 in the semi-autonomous territory quickly mutated into a pro-democracy movement demanding more freedoms, which has become the greatest challenge to Beijing’s power since the ex-British colony is returned to the Chinese fold in 1997. Demonstrations and clashes with the police gradually stopped, partly because of exhaustion and arrests, but also because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Chinese leaders have refused to comply with demands from pro-democracy activists, such as the organization of free elections in the city, an investigation into police violence during the protests, and an amnesty for more than 7,000 people (many of whom are not ” are not 20 years old) arrested during the movement. Pro-democracy parliamentarian Claudia Mo said on Saturday that the local government “is trying with all its might to establish a reign of terror”. “They are doing everything they can to try to muzzle and destroy the local opposition, but we remain united,” she said. “It is obvious that all their actions are a staging.”
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