Hong Kong police authorities arrested 53 people, including opposition officials, on charges of violating the’National Security Act’ that went into effect in June last year.
Hong Kong Sheriff John Lee told a press conference today that the arrests were aimed at those who actively engaged in activities suspected of being involved in crimes that overthrew, interfered with, or severely destroyed the Hong Kong government’s law enforcement missions.
The arrests included at least seven members of the Democratic Party, Hong Kong’s leading opposition party, including former President Uchiwai, Alvin Yong of the Public Democratic Party, former Hong Kong University professor Beni Tai, and John Clancy, an American lawyer.
The police also confiscated his home in connection with the charges of overthrowing the state of democracy activist Joshua Wong, who is already in prison for organizing illegal assemblies.
The arrest by the Hong Kong police was the largest in a single arrest since the Hong Kong Security Law came into effect on June 30 last year, local media reported.
Meanwhile, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hua Chun-ying said at a regular briefing today, “It was a necessary and essential step for the Hong Kong police to arrest a person involved in a violation of the National Security Law.”
The Hong Kong Security Law provides for the highest punishment of life imprisonment for four crimes: division of the country, overthrow of the state regime, terrorist activities, and collusion with foreign forces.
VOA news
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