HONG KONG – Eight more activists in Hong Kong were arrested by police on Tuesday for taking part in an anti-government protest in July. This is the latest move by the Beijing-backed government to curb dissent in the global financial hub.
Police said the arrested were all aged between 24 and 64. According to local media reports, former pro-democracy lawmaker and activist Leung Kwok-hung, who is popularly known as Long Hair, was also held.
The arrest comes a day after eight residents aged between 16 and 34 were detained. Three of them were arrested on suspicion of flouting a national security law during a brief demonstration on a varsity campus last month.
Police resorted to water cannon and tear gas to disperse protesters on July 1, which is the anniversary of the handover of the former British colony to Chinese control. Thousands took part in a demonstration despite a police ban on the protest.
In the rally, more than 300 were arrested after Beijing imposed the national security law on the city in a bid to ‘plug holes in the national security defences exposed to months of violent protests by anti-government demonstrators last year’.
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