Hong Kong police arrest at least 14 high profile activists after mass pro-democracy protests last year

Protesters demonstrate in the district of Yuen Long despite a police ban over fears of violence.
AFP/Getty Images

Police in Hong Kong have arrested at least 14 veteran pro-democracy activists accused of joining unlawful protests last year.

Among those arrested were 81-year-old activist and former parliamentarian Martin Lee, and democracy advocates Albert Ho, Lee Cheuk-yan and Au Nok-hin.

Police also arrested media tycoon Jimmy Lai, who founded the local newspaper Apple Daily.

Lai, Lee Cheuk-yan and Yeung Sum – a former MP from the Democratic Party – were charged in February over their involvement in a mass anti-government demonstration on August 31 last year.

Hong Kong Protests on 12 November 2019 - In pictures

1/27

Hong Kong was gripped by protests for seven months months as those opposing extradition legislation would march through the streets and set up road blocks with cars and bricks.

Campaigners also called for voting rights and an independent inquiry into police conduct.

The protests in the semi-autonomous Chinese territory exposed deep divisions between pro-democracy Hong Kongers and the Communist Party-ruled central government in Beijing.

Protesters demonstrate in the district of Yuen Long despite a police ban over fears of violence.
AFP/Getty Images

The bill, which would have allowed Hong Kong residents to be sent to mainland China to stand trial, has been withdrawn. but the protests continued for more than seven months.

Hong Kong is run as part of the "one country, two systems" policy, where China allows certain areas to have a degree of autonomy from the autocratic control of the central government.

The area was run as a UK colony until 1997, when it was handed over China.

Authorities clash with protestors
AFP via Getty Images

While the protests began peacefully, they increasingly descended into violence after demonstrators became frustrated with the government’s response.

The protestors feel that Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam has ignored their demands and used the police to suppress demonstrations.

The League of Social Democrats wrote in a Facebook post that its leaders were among those arrested, including chairman Raphael Wong

They were accused of participating in two unauthorised protests on August 18 and October 1 last year.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in