More than 50 politicians and pro-democracy activists were arrested in Hong Kong under national security law, allegedly on charges of “subverting state power” by holding primaries and saying they intended to win a majority of seats in the region’s elections.
The arrests on Wednesday morning took place without warning and shocked observers. It is the largest mass prison of people under the national security law (NSL).
Political parties associated with the dozens of detainees said the police action appeared to be related to the unofficial primaries held by the pan-democrats last year, before the Hong Kong elections. The election was postponed by Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam for a year, allegedly because of the pandemic.
Among the detainees were former lawmakers Lam Cheuk-ting, Chu Hoi-dick and Leung Kwok-Hung, as well as co-organizers of the research – lawyer Benny Tai and researcher Robert Chung, whose office was raided a few days earlier.
At the time of the primaries, the Hong Kong government claimed to have received complaints that the vote could have “interfered and manipulated” the election, and that candidates who promised to win a majority of seats to block government projects potentially violated NSL.
The primary polls, while not a formal part of Hong Kong’s electoral process, attracted some 600,000 people to vote for democratic candidates.
But Beijing’s top representatives in Hong Kong labeled the primaries “illegal” and accused collusion organizers with foreign powers in “serious provocation” to Hong Kong’s electoral system.
“The aim of organizer Benny Tai and the opposition camp is to take over Hong Kong’s government power and … carry out a Hong Kong version of the ‘colorful revolution’,” said a spokesman for the Liaison Office, whose chief he is also in charge of implementing national security laws.
After the polls closed, Tai predicted that up to 45 seats could be won by pro-democracy candidates, but he was concerned about the reaction of those in power.
“Everyone must be mentally prepared.”
The Beijing-designed law was imposed in June last year and criminalized secession, subversion, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces, including benign acts of protest. As of Wednesday, about 35 people had been arrested under the law and four accused, including media mogul Jimmy Lai. Prosecutors struggled to ensure that none of them were released on bail, suggesting that anyone accused of Wednesday’s raids is likely to be detained.
More to come.