HONG KONG - Charges have not been laid on the dozens arrested two days ago, with most of them granted bail after an overnight detention, the city's police force said on Friday (Jan 8).
Police said that so far, none of the 55 politicians and activists arrested in a national security sweep on Wednesday (Jan 6) have been charged despite being told they were hauled up for subverting the government.
Only three were denied bail. They are former Demosisto leader Joshua Wong, vice-chairman of localist group People Power Tam Tak Chi, and former Democratic Party chairman Wu Chi Wai.
Wong is currently serving time for organising and inciting people to join the siege of Wan Chai police headquarters in the 2019's unrest, while Tam, who faces sedition charges, is in prison awaiting trial in May.
Wu is still remanded as the court on Friday revoked bail granted to him in an earlier case after finding that he had failed to surrender his British National Overseas passport.
He was previously ordered by the court to surrender his travel documents as part of bail terms set for another case in which he is accused of inciting others to take part in the July 1 rally last year.
Local media reported that the other suspects, released on bail set at between HK$30,000 and HK$50,000, are to report to the police early next month. Their passports have been impounded.
In the dawn raids on Wednesday (Jan 6), 53 democracy activists including Benny Tai, a convicted leader of the 2014 Occupy Central movement, former lawmakers Au Nok Hin, Helena Wong, Kwok Ka Ki and Jeremy Tam, district councillors Lester Shum and Jimmy Sham, and Hong Kong-based American lawyer John Clancey were picked up in the biggest crackdown since China imposed a security law last year.
Officials said the group allegedly planned to overthrow the government by organising or participating in a primary election last July.
The primary election, held by the pan-democrats saw some 600,000 residents turning up to vote for who they wanted to representthem in parliament or the Legislative Council (Legco).
An election for the 70 seats in LegCo was supposed to be held last September but Chief Executive Carrie Lam postponed it because of the pandemic. The election is now due in September this year.
Mrs Lam had previously warned that the primary election could be breaching the security law that was enacted for Hong Kong by Beijing in late June last year.
The Democratic Party, which has six former lawmakers arrested in the police operation, on Friday called a conference where members including Lam Cheuk Ting and party chief Lo Kin Hei denounced the mass arrests as "obvious political suppression".
Mr Lam, who called the arrests "a political decision", said officers who held him could not provide evidence such as the dates of the videos that showed his participation in last year's primary election..
"I'm quite sure they may charge some of us sooner or later, whether they have evidence or not," Mr Lam said. "They want to create a chilling effect. They want us to bow to the regime, say yes to anything regarding to the Carrie Lam administration."
On Wednesday, Secretary for Security John Lee and senior superintendent Steve Li of the police force's national security department said the opposition's plan was to paralyse and overthrow the government, thereby breaching Article 22 of the security law, which covers attempts to subvert state power.
They made the points, which have been echoed by some pro-Beijing lawmakers, that the unofficial primary election was part of the opposition camp's 35+ strategy and 10-step mutual disruption plan.
The move, mooted by Mr Tai, seeks to help the opposition bloc win at least 35 seats in Legco to enable them to block government budget and mount pressure for democratic reforms.
Under Article 52 of the Basic Law or the city's mini Constitution, the chief executive must resign if he or she repeatedly fails to get a budget approved by the legislature.
The mass arrests have drawn criticism from the international community, with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo threatening US sanctions and the European Union calling for the release of those arrested.
But Beijing has defended the Hong Kong police's move, urging them to immediately stop interfering in China's internal affairs.
