Hong Kong pro-democracy activist Joshua Wong was arrested this morning, his party has confirmed.
At a press conference today, Demosisto’s vice chair Isaac Cheng confirmed that Wong — the party’s secretary general — was arrested on suspicion of organizing an unlawful assembly, taking part in an unlawful assembly, and incitement.
He is currently being held at police headquarters in Wan Chai.
Cheng accused the authorities of targeting high-profile pro-democracy activists by making them leaders of the ongoing extradition bill protests, and accused the government of trying to frighten Hongkongers into not protesting.
“Don’t use white terror to threaten Hong Kong people not to come out,” he said.
Cheng stressed that the extradition bill protests — which has been going on for three months — is leaderless, and urged the government to respond to the five key demands, which includes a full withdrawal of the controversial extradition bill that kicked off the protests, an independent inquiry into police violence against protesters, and broader political reforms.
https://www.facebook.com/demosisto/posts/1185132155028938?__xts__[0]=68.ARDV4_chvbc1y8KNxaMdIbj_JSCupy0dL6PY111a845D9XnojxLdGBsZevO9T9Zstv5Bykho54_HNHfQ7rpIFRL3uSi-hrMwmC1ChFCXAYJ0_44bnJd5o6bEv2B6kgbupgHTYaRS3sQMGPQvsKotyCKIPRsyF3XbTBjyaM7xiCvDPCDM2aZ97Wkc5-QZdQkxvyAwQZHqnC4XUVTSBT2_ZlnXkp4PuVQTFbL5Jwr1Z7Ul6egybOKBLdZENk6XIM8xTrarCb40ylpQdzGzp9ch5YNCyepqLyQu9lZM4iW9XQJQysR60G_hp3n3stokXGExo6iw-T0uCofL_eYiO-azSQ&__tn__=-R
Cheng’s comments come after Demosisto posted on Facebook that Wong was arrested at 7:30am while en route to South Horizons MTR station when he was suddenly bundled into what appeared to be a private car.
Wong was only just released from prison in June after serving about a month on years-old charges relating to the 2014 Umbrella Movement.
The news of his arrest comes just hours after it was reported that Andy Chan Ho-tin, the former leader of the officially banned pro-independence Hong Kong National Party, was detained at the airport on Thursday night while preparing to board a flight.
According to RTHK, police confirmed that they arrested a 29-year-old man surnamed Chan on suspicion of taking part in a riot and assaulting police, and that he is still being held for questioning.
Updates to follow.
