Since then, the police and prosecutors have applied the law extensively, and most of the allegations are directed at political speech, violating China’s guarantee that Hong Kong will be allowed to maintain its main freedom and autonomy after the handover from the UK in 1997.
Amnesty published the report a week later in the pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily After its senior managers and chief editorial writer were arrested and their assets frozen, they were forced to shut down.
“From politics to culture, from education to the media, the law has infected every aspect of Hong Kong society and created an atmosphere of fear, forcing residents to think twice, thinking about what they say, their tweets and their way of life,” Amnesty International said in the report.
The human rights organization stated that it analyzed court judgments and hearings, as well as interviews with activists whose targets are stipulated by the law, to show how the legislation can be used to implement “widespread violations of human rights.”
