Foreign governments have criticized Saturday’s arrest of 15 Hong Kong democracy activists in a police sweep on charges of organizing and participating in anti-government protests last year.
The arrests were the biggest crackdown on the territory’s pro-democracy movement since the outbreak of mass protests last year.
The International Bar Association said the authorities should not encroach on human rights and the legal system must guard against any abuses of power when the world was preoccupied with the coronavirus pandemic.
Photo: EPA-EFE
“The United States condemns the arrest of pro-democracy advocates in Hong Kong,” US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said.
“Beijing and its representatives in Hong Kong continue to take actions inconsistent with commitments made under the Sino-British Joint Declaration that include transparency, the rule of law, and guarantees that Hong Kong will continue to ‘enjoy a high degree of autonomy,’” he said.
US lawmakers called on US President Donald Trump to implement the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act passed in November last year.
The act requires annual reviews of Hong Kong’s special status under US law to assess the extent to which China has chipped away at the territory’s autonomy.
US Attorney General William Barr was the latest to weigh in, saying he “condemned the latest assault on the rule of law and the liberty of the people of Hong Kong.”
In Britain, a Foreign Office representative said the government expected any arrests and court procedures to be “conducted in a fair and transparent manner.”
The Foreign Office also said the right to peaceful protest was “fundamental to Hong Kong’s way of life” and authorities should avoid “actions that inflame tensions.”
“The authorities should focus on rebuilding trust through a process of meaningful political dialogue,” the Foreign Office said.
The arrested supporters of the pro-democracy movement included 81-year-old Democratic Party founder and attorney Martin Lee (李柱銘), 71-year-old millionaire publishing tycoon Jimmy Lai (黎智英), 72-year-old former legislator and attorney Margaret Ng (吳靄儀), Democratic Party Chairman and lawmaker Albert Ho (何俊仁) and Legislator “Long Hair” Leung Kwok-hung (梁國雄).
Police said those arrested were aged between 24 and 81, and they were detained on charges of organizing and participating in “unlawful assemblies” on Aug. 18 and Oct. 1 and 20. They also said more arrests were possible.
Those arrested are all due to appear in court on May 18. Some were released on bail late on Saturday.
The Hong Kong government defended the arrests, which the Security Bureau said were carried out in line with the law.
“In Hong Kong, everyone is equal before the law... No one has any special privileges,” a bureau spokesman said.
The International Bar Association condemned the arrests of Lee and Ng, who have been active human rights and rule of law campaigners during their careers.
It was vital that justice was applied transparently in Hong Kong, especially while the world is gripped by the COVID-19 pandemic, it said.
“It is critical that authorities do not use their powers to encroach on fundamental human rights, and it is vital that legal systems continue to protect citizens from any abuse of power which may otherwise be unseen during the COVID-19 crisis in which the international community is submerged,” the group said in a statement.
The Hong Kong Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government released a statement ahead of the arrests that raised new concerns about political pressure from Beijing: It said that it was not bound by a provision of Hong Kong law agreed before the territory’s return to Chinese rule barring Beijing’s interference in local affairs.
The controversy created by that statement deepened after Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam’s (林鄭月娥) government issued a statement on Saturday night that partly contradicted the office’s stance, only to reverse it hours later.
In its third and final statement issued in a four-and-a-half hour period, the Hong Kong government said the work of the liaison office was not limited by Article 22 of the Basic Law.
Meanwhile, across social media, politicians and netizens weighed in on the weekend arrests, with versions of the #Stand With Hong Kong attracting attention globally.
Additional reporting by staff writer and Bloomberg
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