The group were arrested in a coordinated raid on Saturday, just days after Beijing dismissed a clause in the city's Basic Law proscribing Chinese government departments from interfering in the city's daily life. The U.K.-based rights group Hong Kong Watch said the arrests were "politically motivated." "The politically motivated arrests of 14 of the most prominent democracy campaigners in Hong Kong ... represents a concerted effort by the Chinese Communist Party to use the world’s focus on the COVID-19 pandemic to strangle dissent in the city," the group said in a statement on Saturday.
tirsdag 21. april 2020
Hong Kong Police Arrest Martin Lee, 13 Other Pro-Democracy Figures
Police in Hong Kong arrested 14 pro-democracy figures on Saturday, including Democratic Party founder Martin Lee, rights lawyer Albert Ho and media tycoon Jimmy Lai, for "illegal assembly" in connection with mass street protests last year. Martin Lee is considered the grandfather of the Hong Kong democracy movement, while Lai owns the Apple Daily, the biggest pro democracy media organization in the city.
The group were arrested in a coordinated raid on Saturday, just days after Beijing dismissed a clause in the city's Basic Law proscribing Chinese government departments from interfering in the city's daily life. The U.K.-based rights group Hong Kong Watch said the arrests were "politically motivated." "The politically motivated arrests of 14 of the most prominent democracy campaigners in Hong Kong ... represents a concerted effort by the Chinese Communist Party to use the world’s focus on the COVID-19 pandemic to strangle dissent in the city," the group said in a statement on Saturday.
The group were arrested in a coordinated raid on Saturday, just days after Beijing dismissed a clause in the city's Basic Law proscribing Chinese government departments from interfering in the city's daily life. The U.K.-based rights group Hong Kong Watch said the arrests were "politically motivated." "The politically motivated arrests of 14 of the most prominent democracy campaigners in Hong Kong ... represents a concerted effort by the Chinese Communist Party to use the world’s focus on the COVID-19 pandemic to strangle dissent in the city," the group said in a statement on Saturday.
