Hong Kong: exile of Nathan Law, one of the young leaders of pro-democracy protests

Text by: RFI Follow

The president of the young pro-democracy party Demosisto announced that he had left the special administrative region, without knowing if he could return there one day. This Friday, the Hong Kong authorities charged a man for the first time under the new national security law. Several of the most well-known opposition figures who have openly criticized Beijing expect to be arrested overnight. Nathan Law did not want to stay, unlike the opposition press boss Jimmy Lai or his colleague from Demosisto, the emblematic Joshua Wong.

Publicity

With our correspondent in Hong Kong, Florence de Changy

The international community must not sacrifice Hong Kong for economic interests. This is the appeal of Nathan Law, for whom the protests have been a "  window to allow the world to see that China is becoming more and more authoritarian  ".

A few days before his 27th birthday, the young pro-Democrat leader Law already has a long political experience behind him. He was president of a political party, Demosisto, which he had founded in the momentum of Hong Kong's first great political movement, the “  umbrella movement  ” in 2014, with two other young student activists for democracy: Joshua Wong and Agnes Chow.

Hong Kong's youngest MP

In 2016, he was elected as an MP when he was just 23 years old, making him the youngest elected member in Hong Kong's history in the Legislative Council, the local parliament. New historic episode: like six other deputies, he lost his seat, less than a year later. He was also sentenced to several months in prison before the Court of Last Instance overturned this judgment.

Nathan Law has been in political exile since last night. “  When the plane took off, I looked one last time at this city that I love so much. If I have the chance to return one day, I hope I would have remained the same young man with the same values,  "said Nathan Law in the tweet he posted to announce his departure.

8. So I bade my city farewell. As the plane took off the runway, I gazed down at the skyline I love so much for one last time. Should I have the fortune to ever return, I hope to still remain as I am: the same young man with these same beliefs. Glory to Hong Kong. THREAD ENDS. pic.twitter.com/Pf94W8YQu6

► Read also: National Security Law: Testimonies of Hong Kongers in shock

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• Hong Kong
• China
• Human rights

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