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.
