(AFP) – Ten people were detained in Hong Kong on Thursday under the city’s national security statute, accused of giving financial assistance to abroad dissident organisations advocating for sanctions against the Chinese financial center.
Following massive and often violent pro-democracy protests the year before, Beijing enacted a broad national security measure on Hong Kong in 2020. Critics claim that the bill has limited political liberties and stifled opposition.
Authorities stated on Thursday that four men and six women, aged 26 to 43, were detained for “conspiracy to collusion with a foreign country or external elements,” a crime punishable by life in prison under the security statute.
“Police investigation revealed that the arrested persons were suspected of conspiracy to collude with the ‘612 Humanitarian Relief Fund,'” according to the police statement, referring to a now-defunct charity that helped pay legal and medical expenses for people jailed during the 2019 protests.
According to the report, the ten persons were suspected of receiving payments “from various overseas organizations to support people who have fled overseas or organizations that have called for sanctions against Hong Kong.”
Police also cited “inciting riot” as a reason for the arrests on Thursday and did not rule out further.
The fund was terminated in October 2021 after national security officers sought information on its donors and recipients.
In recent years, authorities have accused the organization of fomenting unrest among imprisoned protestors and have investigated its links to Hong Kong dissidents who have escaped overseas.
Five trustees of the fund, including the elderly cardinal Joseph Zen, were imprisoned for international collaboration in May 2022.
In November, the five trustees and the fund’s secretary were convicted and penalized for the less serious offense of failing to properly register the fund.
They have subsequently filed an appeal against their convictions, but there has been no scheduled hearing date.
260 individuals had been detained under the national security law as of last month, with 79 of them convicted or pending punishment in Hong Kong.