- Members of the Hong Kong Alliance were arrested on Wednesday.
- The police said they were arrested for violating the security law.
- The organization refused to hand over the personal details of the members.
Hong Kong police arrested four gang members who participated in the night vigil in Tiananmen Square on Wednesday after refusing to cooperate with the national security investigation the day before.
The Hong Kong Alliance is the latest goal of a comprehensive national security law that China has imposed on the city in 2020, with the aim of suppressing dissent after large-scale and often violent democratic protests.
Zhou Hengdong, a well-known barrister and vice chairman of the coalition, was taken away by handcuffed security police from her office building in the city’s central business district.
Watch | The first trial of the Hong Kong National Security Law is underway
The coalition said in a statement that three other members of the organization-Tony Leung, Sean Tang and Chan To-wai-were arrested on Wednesday morning.
The police confirmed that they arrested three men and a woman on the grounds of “not providing information” in accordance with the National Security Law.
‘Foreign Agent’
The coalition is one of several democratic groups being investigated by the city’s newly formed national security department.
In August, the police ordered the organization to hand over financial and operational details, accusing it of working as a “foreign agent”.
The request includes the personal details of all members since its establishment in 1989, all meeting minutes, financial records, and any exchanges with other non-governmental organizations that promote democracy and human rights in China.
On Tuesday, the deadline for the request, members of the coalition submitted a letter to the police stating that the request was illegal, arbitrary, and did not provide evidence of their misconduct.
Alliance members also denied the allegations that they were foreign agents, saying they were a domestic group running for Hong Kong people.
“Any law enforcement actions taken by law enforcement agencies are based on evidence and act strictly in accordance with the law,” the Security Bureau said after the arrest, and warned that those who refuse to cooperate will face fines and up to six months in prison.
China is currently reshaping Hong Kong with its authoritarian image.
Dozens of democrats-including several coalition members-were arrested on national security charges and launched an official campaign to eliminate anyone considered “unpatriotic” in the city.
The once outspoken atmosphere of the business center has changed in the last year, bringing new rules and restrictions every month.
Movies are now being censored for political content, courses have been rewritten, dissident artists and pop stars find themselves unable to find a venue, and dozens of civil society groups have been disbanded.
The official name of the alliance is the Hong Kong Alliance for the Patriotic and Democratic Movement of China. It was once one of the most obvious symbols of Hong Kong’s political diversity in the past.
Every year on June 4th, which is China’s deadly Tiananmen Square repression day in 1989, it organizes a large candlelight vigil in Hong Kong’s Victoria Park, often attended by tens of thousands of residents. In recent years, as anger against Beijing’s operation has intensified, the crowd The city continues to expand.
The slogan of the vigil often calls for Chinese democracy to end the one-party dictatorship.
Tolerance for this kind of political resistance has ended, especially after anger against Beijing’s rule erupted with protests in the months of 2019.
Earlier this year, police and city officials banned the last two night vigils at Tiananmen Square and closed a museum run by the coalition.
The Chinese and Hong Kong authorities have also stated that future vigil activities may violate the new national security law.
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