Hong Kong protests in 2019: two opposition elected officials arrested

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3 min

Two Hong Kong opposition parliamentarians were arrested on Wednesday August 26 for their participation in one of the summer 2019 demonstrations, against the backdrop of a strong takeover of the former British colony by its authorities aligned with Beijing.

Publicity

Lam Cheuk-ting and Ted Hui were arrested early in the morning at their home, according to their Democratic Party and press releases on their Facebook account. A source within the police confirmed their arrest, as well as that of 14 other people in this operation in connection with some of the pro-democracy protests of July 2019.

The two deputies sit in the opposition within the Legislative Council (LegCo, the local parliament), where they do not hesitate to criticize the Chinese and Hong Kong authorities head-on.

Yuen Long Attack

A post on Lam Cheuk-ting's Facebook page indicates that he was arrested on  suspicion of having participated in a riot on July 21,  2019. That day, the elected official and dozens of demonstrators were brutally attacked in the town of Yuen Long by government supporters, some of whom are suspected of belonging to the triads.

The police had been slow to arrive and some police officers had been filmed letting the armed attackers go. This had helped to fuel the population's mistrust of the police, which was for months one of the ferments of the unprecedented protest since the handover in 1997.

Lam Cheuk-ting was also charged with "  conspiracy to cause damage to property and obstruction of justice,  " the statement said. Ted Hui's office also released a video of his arrest, in which police say he is being prosecuted, among other things, for attempting to obstruct justice. He was taken away in handcuffs. His party said his arrest was also linked to a demonstration on July 6, 2019.

9,000 arrests since June 2019

Hong Kong experienced its worst political crisis from June to December since its handover to China in 1997, with almost daily demonstrations, which sometimes degenerated into violence, to denounce the decline in freedoms and interference from Beijing.

At the end of June, Beijing imposed a drastic national security law on the territory that has helped to considerably strengthen the grip of the Chinese central power over Hong Kong. Many activists for democracy denounce a liberticidal text which, according to them, comes to an end with the principle of "one country, two systems" established during the handover in 1997 and which guaranteed until 2047 to Hong Kongers freedoms unknown in the rest of the country. China.

A dozen figures from the pro-democracy movement were banned in July from standing in the next LegCo elections. More than 9,000 people have been arrested in Hong Kong since June 2019.

► See also: Hong Kong: pro-democracy press boss Jimmy Lai released on bail

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