Radio Host, Wife 'arrested For Funding Secessionism'

An online radio host and his wife have been arrested on suspicion of money laundering and funding secessionist activities, according to a post on his Facebook page.

The post, written by an administrator of the page, says the presenter, known as Giggs, will have to suspend his programmes until further notice after the arrests on Saturday morning.

The post says the accusations are linked to a fundraising campaign to support young protesters to live and study in Taiwan. It's thought Giggs' assistant has also been arrested.

Police later said they had arrested one man and two women, aged between 50 and 53, in North Point on Saturday morning.

They're being detained for questioning on suspicion of providing pecuniary or other financial assistance or property for other persons to commit secession and money laundering.

Police said they noticed that since late February, some people had launched a crowd-funding campaign on social media, claiming that the funds would be used to support people who have left Hong Kong. The force said the people also provided their bank account details for receiving the funds.

Police said after investigation by officers from the national security department, they suspected some people had illegally used some of the funds to aid people and groups who advocate secession.

Giggs presents current affairs programme for the online channel, D100. Two of his colleagues also reported the arrests on their Facebook pages.

Asked about the case on Saturday morning, Police Commissioner Chris Tang said it was still under investigation and he couldn't comment further.

The case takes the total number of arrests under the National Security Law to 32.

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