Some members of Hong Kong’s League of Social Democrats (LSD) were stopped and searched by police officers during a hike on Sunday, the pro-democracy group has said.
While LSD said the move was over suspected national security law violations, the police told HKFP on Monday that the individuals were stopped because they were approaching a slope that was under maintenance. No arrests were made.
In a Facebook post shared on Sunday evening, the LSD condemned what it described as “unreasonable oppression” by the police, who were said to have intercepted some of its group members and around 20 of their friends before they embarked on a hike in Stanley that afternoon.
According to the group, around 20 uniform and plainclothes police officers stopped the individuals at around 2.30 pm and accused them of breaching the Beijing-imposed security law. They were searched and their belongings were inspected, with the entire process lasting around two hours, the LSD said.
The LSD said the officers told its members and their friends that they were barred from hiking due to slope maintenance. By the time they were released by the police, the individuals decided to leave the area because “the sky was already getting darker.”
The LSD, one of the last remaining active pro-democracy groups in Hong Kong, criticised the police as cracking down on “normal social activities” organised by political groups. It cited unsuccessful attempts by the LSD and the Democratic Party to hold fundraising or celebratory dinners, saying the authorities “extended the crackdown from political life to social life.”
“Not only are the freedoms of speech, association, and assembly protected by the Basic Law and the Bill of Rights being suppressed and undermined, even social freedoms are being violated,” the Facebook post read.
In response to HKFP’s enquiries, police said on Monday that officers were patrolling around Wong Ma Kok Road in Stanley and saw a group of people who wanted to enter an area near a slope which was under emergency maintenance.
The officers stopped the individuals and reminded them of hiking safety and the individuals left the scene afterwards. No arrests were made, the police said.
It did not respond to questions on whether the officers had taken down information about the individuals stopped, and whether their belongings were searched. It also did not give an answer to a question on the duration of the police action.
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