HONG KONG: Thousands of protesters, chanting “Sovereignty belongs to the people! ” marched through Hong Kong on New Year’s Day to protest at the government’s legal bid to unseat pro-democracy lawmakers Nathan Law, Lau Siu-lai, Leung Kwok-hung, and Edward Yiu.
The four popularly elected legislators, who led the rally, were the latest targets of a government move which pro-democracy parties describe as a witch hunt.
It came after the city’s courts ousted two pro-independence lawmakers – Yau Wai-ching and Sixtus Leung – for failing to swear their oaths of office correctly, a move backed by Beijing.
The Hong Kong government now wants to bar the other four legislators for alleged breaches in their swearing-in ceremony and in their oaths of allegiance.
“We can see that under Hong Kong’s rule of law, the government, with its unlimited resources, will use legal procedures to bully leaders and representatives with fewer resources,” Joshua Wong, a prominent student leader, told AFP at the rally.
