A large number of Hong Kong democrats brace for national security charges to be laid
28 February, 2021
Countless dozen Hong Kong democrats are due to report to native police stations across the location on Sunday (Feb 28), with some looking to be billed with breaches of national security as a crackdown on the democratic opposition intensifies.
Benny Tai, among the organisers of an unofficial most important election last summer, said in an online post that there was a chance he'd be "formally charged".
Tai was arrested in a dawn raid along with an increase of than 50 other democrats on Jan 6 in the greatest national security operation because the law's passage last June.
These were accused of organising and participating in an unofficial "primary election" last July targeted at selecting the strongest candidates for a legislative council election.
The democrats were detained at the time, questioned, plus some had their cell phones and computers confiscated, but released pending further investigations.
"My chance of bail will not be too superb," wrote Tai, who possesses been accused by Chinese authorities to be an integral tactician for the pro-democracy movement found in the former British colony.
Those also known as in by Hong Kong police include John Clancey, a US citizen and human rights lawyer, as well as a band of younger "resistance camp" democratic activists including Lester Shum, Sam Cheung, Ventus Lau and Fergus Leung.
The democrats denounced the arrests as political persecution for the informal, tranquil poll that drew 600,000 votes in a city of 7.5 million.
A rights advocacy group, "Electric power for Democracy", that co-organised the principal elections, said found in a Facebook post on Friday that it had disbanded.
When contacted by Reuters, an area police spokeswoman wouldn't normally immediately say if the democracy advocates would be charged with breaching the national security law.
The Hong Kong police say 99 people have been arrested for suspected violations of the security laws up to now.
Some of these have been denied bail, including media mogul and prominent China critic Jimmy Lai, despite protracted legal appeals.
The sweeping national security laws - seen by critics as a threat to Hong Kong's freedoms and autonomy - punish acts of subversion, secession, collusion with foreign forces and terrorism with possible life imprisonment.
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