Activists Arrested Over 'unauthorised Assembly Call'

Police on Friday said they had arrested two people on suspicion of promoting an unauthorised assembly and inciting others to join an unlawful assembly, in a case believed to be related to the anniversary of a major 2019 protest.

The force identified those arrested as a 20-year-old man surnamed Wong and a 19-year-old woman, also surnamed Wong.

At a media briefing, officers accused the pair of using social media to urge people to join gatherings in Mong Kok and Causeway Bay on June 12.

Earlier, localist group Student Politicism said its convenor, Wong Yat-chin, and spokeswoman Alice Wong had been arrested.

The group had written on social media that it would be arranging a street booth on Saturday night to mark two years since protesters surrounded Legco to prevent lawmakers from vetting the government's ill-fated extradition bill.

Last Friday – which marked the 32nd anniversary of the Tiananmen crackdown – Wong Yat-chin was arrested while trying to set up a street booth in Mong Kok.

Police accused him of misconduct in a public place. He was released on bail a day later, without being charged.

Pro-democracy activist Chow Hang-tung, who was also arrested last Friday, accused the police of copying the tactics mainland authorities use against dissidents.

She alleged that the police were making "preventative arrests" by taking her and Wong into custody before they had even done anything.

Chow said this is similar to how mainland dissidents are forced to take trips or are put under house arrest ahead of major events.

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