Hong Kong pro-democracy activist Joshua Wong, face of the "Umbrella Movement" in 2014, was arrested on Friday morning, his party said on the eve of a new demonstration planned in the former British colony, but banned by the police.
"Our Secretary General @joshuawongcf has been arrested this morning around 7:30," tweeted the party Demosisto. "He was forced into a private minivan on the street in broad daylight, and our lawyers are now following the case." This arrest has not been officially confirmed by the authorities. Hong Kong has been shaken for nearly three months by an unprecedented popular mobilization since its return to China in 1997.
More than 850 arrests
This movement has been marked by numerous actions organized by the prodemocracy movement, especially monster demonstrations, some of which have degenerated into violent clashes between radicals and law enforcement. More than 850 people were arrested in connection with the protests, including pro-independence activist Andy Chan, who was arrested on Thursday night.
The founder of the National Party (HKNP), a tiny independentist formation banned by the authorities in 2018, was arrested while on the verge of boarding a flight bound for Japan, reports the Hong Kong Free Press website quoting a spokesman for the police. The latter told the site that Andy Chan was suspected of involvement in a riot and assaulting a police officer.
On Saturday, the protesters intend to mark the fifth anniversary of Beijing's refusal to hold universal suffrage elections in the city, a decision that triggered the "Umbrella Movement", of which 17-year-old Joshua Wong was the figure. the most prominent. During this movement, crowds had blocked the financial and political heart of Hong Kong for 79 days to demand democratic reforms. But Beijing had made no concessions.
Joshua Wong, who had been sentenced to prison for his role in the movement, was released in mid-June, announcing immediately that he would join the ranks of the new mobilization that began in Hong Kong. Relying on security concerns, the police refused to allow the Saturday demonstration, a measure that fears clashes between police and protesters are likely to defy the ban.