Hong Kong police arrested an eighth person on Monday under its new security law over social media posts commemorating Beijing’s 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown.
The latest arrest came a week after police arrested six women and a man aged 37 to 65, including jailed June 4 candlelight vigil organizer Tonyee Chow Hang-tung, on suspicion of committing “offenses in connection with seditious intention” under section 24 of the Safeguarding National Security Ordinance.
Authorities connected the arrests to a Facebook page called “Chow Hang-tung Club,” which recently invited the public to write about their experiences related to the Tiananmen vigils.
The vigil, which once drew tens of thousands to Hong Kong’s Victoria Park, has been banned since 2020.
A spokesman said a 62-year-old man was arrested in the Sha Tin district on Monday for the same offense, bringing the total number of arrestees related to the case to eight.
It is understood that the man arrested is Chow’s uncle.
Investigation revealed that a woman, remanded in custody, had exploited an upcoming sensitive date to repeatedly publish posts with seditious intentions on a social platform anonymously with the assistance of at least seven arrested persons since April 2024, according to the spokesperson.
The spokesperson added that the posts’ content provoked hatred towards the central authorities, the Hong Kong government, and the judiciary and incited netizens to organize or participate in relevant illegal activities at a later stage.
Hong Kong United Times丨香港聯合時報丨HKUT 