Four men arrested over allegedly supporting wanted democrats abroad have been released on bail, Hong Kong police have said.
While authorities have not revealed their identities, local media outlets have reported them to be activists with links to defunct pro-democracy group Demosisto.
They must report to the police in early August, police said on Friday.
The four, aged between 26 and 28, were apprehended on Wednesday in connection with an alleged conspiracy to collude with foreign forces by providing financial support to self-exiled activists. They were also accused of taking part in a “conspiracy to doing acts with seditious intent.”
Photos published by local media outlets showed Ivan Lam, an ex-chairperson of Demosisto, being escorted into a police vehicle outside an industrial building in Kwai Chung. The other three were former Demosisto members William Liu, Li Kai-ching and Arnold Chung, according to local media.
National security police made a fifth arrest – reportedly of ex-Demosisto member Calvin Chu – at the airport on Thursday. The 24-year-old was also suspected of taking part in a conspiracy to collude with foreign forces.
Local media outlets said Chu was en route to Taiwan when he was arrested.
The five were reportedly connected with an app called Mee, which provided information and discounts about “yellow” – or pro-democracy – businesses in Hong Kong.
The app had disappeared from the Apple and Google Play stores when HKFP checked on Friday morning. Its Facebook and Instagram pages had also vanished.
Alongside dozens of groups, Demosisto disbanded in the wake of a national security law, enacted in June 2020 following months of protests and unrest against a controversial extradition law. Prominent activists Joshua Wong and Agnes Chow were among Demosisto’s founders.
The national security law, which was imposed by Beijing, bypassing the local legislature, criminalises secession, subversion, foreign collusion and terrorism. Critics say the law has been used to silence opposition voices, while authorities maintain that it has restored stability to the city.
Gov’t to ‘exhaust all lawful means’
The five arrests came after national security police announced arrest warrants for eight overseas democrats on Monday, accusing them of calling for sanctions against local officials and scheming for foreign countries to undermine Hong Kong’s status as a financial centre.
Police named ex-lawmakers Ted Hui and Dennis Kwok; activists Nathan Law, Anna Kwok, Elmer Yuen, Mung Siu-tat and Finn Lau; and solicitor Kevin Yam as the eight who were wanted. The democrats are now based in Australia, the US and the UK.
A reward of HK$1 million is being offered for each of the wanted people, police added.
Chief Executive John Lee and pro-establishment parties have voiced support for the warrants. In a press conference on Tuesday, Lee invited “anyone” – including the friends and family members of those wanted – to assist in their arrests.
“The government will exhaust all lawful means to apprehend criminals endangering national security… [we] will pursue them for the rest of our lives even if they run to the ends of the earth,” said the chief executive.
Meanwhile, activist groups and Western countries have decried the move. The US, where a number of the wanted democrats including Kwok and Yuen are based, said the exterritorial application of the Beijing-enacted law was a “dangerous precedent that threatens the human rights and fundamental freedoms of people all over the world.”
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