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Christopher Mung, a trade union activist now living in London, said the bounty was an attempt to strike fear in pro-democracy activists both in Hong Kong and overseas, that would not work.
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“If we stop what we’re doing because of the fear, because of this type of intimidation, we are actually going to encourage the Chinese government to do more intimidation, to do more arrest warrants, and that is unacceptable,” he told reporters in Britain’s parliament.
The move by police on Monday also quickly drew criticism from other Western governments, which took issue with the extraterritorial application of the security law, imposed by Beijing following massive pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong in 2019.
The four arrests further intensified a crackdown on dissidents since the protests. More than 260 people have been arrested under the security law, including many of the city’s leading pro-democracy activists.
Local media quoted unnamed sources to report that the suspects were associated with a mobile application called “Mee”, which shares information about pro-democracy businesses. The four were accused of using the platform to secure funds to support Law, the reports said.
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Police said they searched the suspects’ homes and offices and seized documents and electronic communication devices. The four were arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to collude with foreign forces and commit acts with seditious intent, police said.
They said the operation was ongoing, and that they would not rule out the possibility of making further arrests.
Demosisto, which was earlier led by Law and former student leader Joshua Wong, was disbanded on June 30, 2020, the same day the security law was enacted.
Law pledged on Facebook then that he would continue to participate in the resistance movement in a personal capacity.
AP, Reuters
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