Hong Kong: 11 arrested for helping activists flee to Taiwan
Hong Kong lawyer and district councilor Daniel Wong Kwok-tung, arrested by police on January 14, 2021, for helping pro-democracy activists flee to Taiwan.
AP - Vincent Yu
Text by: RFI Follow
3 min
The police arrested this Thursday, January 14 in Hong Kong eleven people suspected of having helped a group of activists to try to flee to Taiwan by boat.
Activists who had participated in pro-democracy protests in 2019, then who had been arrested by Chinese coast guards.
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Eleven people were arrested by the national security service for 'conspiring to help criminals',
" said a senior Hong Kong police official.
This policeman confirmed that they are suspected of having contributed, in August, to the attempted flight of 12 Hong Kong pro-democracy activists.
Threatened with prosecution in Hong Kong for their involvement in the pro-democracy protests that rocked the city in 2019, they were arrested by Chinese coast guards as they tried to flee to Taiwan.
In December, ten of the 12 activists who tried to flee were
sentenced by a Chinese court
to terms of up to three years in prison for illegally crossing the border.
Two minors, who were also on board the boat, were handed over to the Hong Kong authorities in December.
They will face charges of attempted arson and possession of weapons.
Founder of a restaurant in Taipei
Among those arrested on Thursday was Daniel Wong, a lawyer who has specialized in human rights for years and is known to be a strong supporter of the pro-democracy movement.
"
The police in charge of national security arrived at my home at 6:10 am and I do not know for the moment which station they will take me to
," Daniel Wong wrote on his Facebook page.
The 71-year-old man is also the founder of a restaurant in Taipei that employs and helps Hong Kong people who have fled to the rival island of Beijing.
In addition, Willis Ho, a former student leader, confirmed that his mother is among those arrested.
This is not the first time that people suspected of helping this group have been arrested.
In October, nine people had been released on bail.
►
To listen: Taiwan supports Hong Kong activists against the security law imposed by Beijing
Large net
The arrests come eight days after a massive crackdown that targeted more than fifty Hong Kong opposition figures, arrested in the name of the draconian
national security law
imposed at the end of June by Beijing on Hong Kong.
The new law aims to put an end to the vast protest movement that shook this territory in 2019.
In particular, it gives the authorities the power to suppress subversion, secession, terrorism and collusion with outside forces.
At least 90 people have been arrested under the law, among them press mogul
Jimmy Lai
and famous activist
Joshua Wong
.
►
To read also: Hong Kong: Beijing intensifies its repression with a vast net against the opposition
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Hong Kong
China
Human rights
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