AFP
Updated at 11:02 ET on 01-06-2021
National security police in Hong Kong on Wednesday arrested more than 50 opposition politicians and activists in a city-wide crackdown on dissent under a draconian law imposed by the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
Around 1,000 national security police officers were dispatched to arrest 53 people who took part in or helped to organize a primary election in July aimed at selecting pro-democracy candidates for Legislative Council (LegCo) elections that were then postponed by the authorities.
Former Hong Kong University law professor Benny Tai and founder of the 2014 Occupy Central pro-democracy movement and former Democratic Party chairman Wu Chi-wai were among those arrested.
Ex-Hong Kong Lawmaker Charged With Leaking Information About Alleged Police Misconduct
Lam Cheuk-ting, a former lawmaker of the Hong Kong Democratic Party, was arrested by Hong Kong’s anti-corruption agency for allegedly disclosing the identity of a police commander under investigation in the “7.21” incident a violent attack at a local train station that occurred during the anti-extradition bill protests that rocked the city last year.
Lam says that he did not commit a crime and was only investigating suspected collusion between the police and criminal gangs, and accused the anti-corruption agency of becoming a tool for the Chinese communist regime to suppress dissent.