Two former Hong Kong pro-independence lawmakers were arrested without warning by local police on Wednesday morning as part of what many fear to be a wider crackdown on dissent by the Beijing government.
T wo former Hong Kong pro-independence lawmakers were arrested without warning by local police on Wednesday morning as part of what many fear to be a wider crackdown on dissent by the Beijing government.
Police raided the homes of Yau Wai-Ching and Sixtus “Baggio” Leung, both of the Youngspiration party, at 7am before they were interrogated and later released on bail.
Speaking to reporters outside Hong Kong’s Central Police Station where they were detained, the pair announced that they were expected to attend a court hearing on Friday relating to charges of unlawful assembly and attempted forced entry.
“The government’s regime will do whatever it takes to destroy and wipe out Hong Kong’s cries for self-determination, ” said Ms Yau. “But we will never give up.”
T he charges refer to an incident in November last year, when the democratically elected lawmakers tried to storm a Hong Kong Legislative Council meeting after they staged a controversial anti-China protest during their swearing-in ceremony a few weeks earlier.
In a dramatic diversion from the usual oaths, Ms Yau and Mr Leung swore allegiance to the “Hong Kong nation” instead of China, and unfurled a large banner that read “Hong Kong is not China”. They also publicly used an offensive term to refer to China.
