US Lawyer Arrested, Firm Raided As Part Of Crackdown

Police raided a law firm in Central and arrested an American lawyer working there on Wednesday morning, just hours after launching a national security crackdown that saw dozens of other arrests.

Footage posted online showed officers at Ho, Tse, Wai & Partners, the law firm of former Democratic Party chairman Albert Ho.

One of the partners, Jonathan Man, told RTHK that lawyer John Clancey had been arrested and the offices were being searched by the police.

It wasn't clear whether Clancey, a US citizen, was arrested during the police raid or elsewhere.

Clancey is the treasurer of the group Power for Democracy which was involved in last year's primaries held by the pro-democracy camp ahead of the Legco elections which didn't take place in the end.

Around 50 pro-democracy activists, including several former lawmakers, were arrested earlier in the morning over the primaries, which hundreds of thousands of Hongkongers took part in.

Police on Wednesday morning also served court papers to Stand News and Apple Daily, demanding they hand over documents to assist with their national security investigation.