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Hong Kong Police Arrest 14 Veteran Pro-Democracy Figures

Verna Yu

   HONG KONG - Hong Kong police Saturday arrested 14 prominent democracy
   activists on charges of illegal assembly in the biggest crackdown on
   the semiautonomous city's pro-democracy movement since mass, sometimes
   violent anti-government protests rocked the former British colony in
   June.
   The move came just hours after China's top representative office in the
   semiautonomous city declared it is not bound by restrictions in Hong
   Kong's constitution, the Basic Law, that bar Chinese government from
   interfering in local affairs. Earlier this week, Chinese officials
   urged Hong Kong to enact national security legislation, amid
   accusations of Chinese overreach into the city's legislative council
   and judiciary.
   Police arrested media tycoon Jimmy Lai, the 81-year-old founder of
   Democratic Party and senior barrister Martin Lee, lawyer Albert Ho,
   barrister Margaret Ng, labor rights activist Lee Cheuk-yan, former
   legislators Cyd Ho and Leung Kwok-hung as well as Figo Chan, the
   vice-convener of the group Civil Human Rights Front, which has
   organized several mass protests approved by police last year.
   The 14 arrested allegedly organized and took part in unlawful
   assemblies, and police "do not rule out that more will be arrested,"
   superintendent Lam Wing-Ho warned. They were accused of joining three
   unapproved protests on August 18, October 1 and October 20 last year,
   local media reported.
   Hong Kong authorities have arrested more than 7,800 people for
   involvement in the anti-government protests, including many on rioting
   charges that can carry jail terms of up to 10 years.
   Pro-democracy lawmakers say the arrests are an attempt to silence them
   ahead of the legislative council election in September, which makes the
   authorities nervous as they may claim a majority in the same way that
   they won a landslide victory in district council elections last
   November.
   Pro-democracy lawmaker Claudia Mo said, "Beijing now calls itself above
   the Basic Law and is choreographing legal and judicial means, however
   twisted, to try to terrorize Hong Kong opposition."
   

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