Hong Kong police on Friday arrested a media mogul who is an outspoken China critic and two activists over their participation in an anti-government protest last August.
Jimmy Lai, owner of Next Digital Ltd., which publishes the Apple Daily newspaper, and former Hong Kong legislators Lee Cheuk-yan and Yeung Sum, are alleged to have taken part in an unauthorized assembly on Aug. 31, according to local media.
The protest in question was one of many held in the semiautonomous Chinese territory last year that were initially triggered by swelling public opposition to an unpopular government plan to enable fugitives to be handed over to authorities in mainland China.
Without identifying whom they arrested, the police said three men were charged with breaching the public order ordinance, and that one of them was also charged with one count of criminal intimidation over a separate incident.
(Jimmy Lai (C) is escorted by police officers outside Hong Kong's Government complex on Dec. 11, 2014 in Hong Kong.)
[Getty/Kyodo]
Apple's rival newspaper Oriental Daily has been reporting on a story about Lai's alleged bullying of one of its reporters during a demonstration in 2017 and the Hong Kong government's decision not to prosecute the case.
The police said the three men were later released on bail and are due to appear before court on May 5.
"No comment," Lai told reporters outside a police station after he was released.
Yeung said he had anticipated the arrest but questioned the timing.
"Shouldn't the police be sparing no effort in fighting the epidemic now?" the former Democratic Party chairman said, referring to the coronavirus outbreak. "This is purely political prosecution. We have no regrets. (The authorities) had apparently hoped for a chilling effect (on the anti-government movement)."
Lee also called the arrest a political move and accused the police of using scare tactics.
The arrests, which came during a period of relative calm after months of demonstrations, have drawn criticism from abroad.
U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley called Lai's arrest "a transparent attempt to silence pro-democracy voices." "While #coronavirus ravages China, repression is Beijing's priority," he tweeted.
About 7,000 people have so far been arrested on charges including rioting as some of the peaceful protests turned violent.
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