Hong Kong police announced bounties yesterday for information leading to the arrest of 19 overseas activists, accusing them of national security crimes.
Political dissent in Hong Kong has been quashed since Beijing imposed a sweeping National Security Law in 2020 after huge, sometimes violent pro-democracy protests the year before. Many opposition figures have fled abroad, while others have been arrested and sentenced to years in jail.
Police said the 19 activists were involved in what they called a “subversive organization,” Hong Kong Parliament, a pro-democracy non-governmental organization established in Canada.
Photo: Reuters
Hong Kong Parliament on July 1 said on social media that it was holding an unofficial poll online to form a “legislature,” aimed at “opposing one-party dictatorship and tyranny, and pursuing Hong Kong people ruling Hong Kong.”
Police accused the group of seeking to “unlawfully overthrow and undermine the fundamental system” of the Chinese and Hong Kong authorities.
The investigation into the organization is ongoing, the police said, warning that they “will offer bounties to hunt down more suspects in the case if necessary.”
They also called on the accused to “return to Hong Kong and turn themselves in, rather than make further mistakes.”
A reward of HK$200,000 (US$25,480) each was offered for 15 of the activists, while the four others were already wanted for HK$1 million, the statement said.
The bounties are seen as largely symbolic, given that they affect people living abroad in nations unlikely to extradite political activists to Hong Kong or China.
This is the fourth time Hong Kong’s authorities have offered rewards for help capturing those who have allegedly contravened its national security laws.
According to the Hong Kong police’s Web site, as of yesterday, there are 34 people wanted for national security offenses, including secession, subversion or foreign collusion.
Previous rounds of bounties were met with intense criticism from Western countries, with Hong Kong and China in turn railing against foreign “interference.”
Hong Kong has also previously canceled the passports of other pro-democracy activists on its wanted list, under its second homegrown National Security Law enacted last year. As of July 1, authorities had arrested 333 people for alleged national security crimes, with 165 convicted in Hong Kong.
Earlier this month, Hong Kong police arrested four people, including a 15-year-old, who were allegedly part of a group in Taiwan that called for the overthrow of the Chinese Communist Party.
This week police said they had arrested an 18-year-old for writing “seditious words” on a toilet wall in a commercial building.
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