Updates to our Terms of Use

We are updating our Terms of Use. Please carefully review the updated Terms before proceeding to our website.

Thursday, April 18, 2024 | Back issues
Courthouse News Service Courthouse News Service

Hong Kong Activist Wong Arrested Over Unauthorized Assembly

Hong Kong pro-democracy activist Joshua Wong said he was arrested again Thursday for allegedly participating in an unauthorized assembly last October.

HONG KONG (AP) — Hong Kong pro-democracy activist Joshua Wong said he was arrested again Thursday for allegedly participating in an unauthorized assembly last October.

Wong tweeted that he was arrested when he reported to the semi-autonomous Chinese territory's Central Police Station as part of a bail requirement.

He said he was also accused of violating a pre-coronavirus law banning the wearing of masks in public places on the pretext they obscure identity.

Wong told reporters after leaving the police station that it is the third case against him. He vowed to continue to resist.

Wong rose to prominence as a student leader during the 2014 Umbrella Movement protests for universal suffrage, and is among a growing number of activists being charged for various relatively minor offenses since Beijing imposed a sweeping national security law on the territory that has severely restricted political speech.

He played a low-key role in mostly leaderless and sometimes violent anti-government protests last year that led to Beijing imposing the security law. However, with Beijing's encouragement, Hong Kong authorities have been pursuing charges against major opposition figures for illegal assembly and other minor infractions in what some call a campaign to harass and intimidate.

Categories / Criminal, International, Politics

Subscribe to Closing Arguments

Sign up for new weekly newsletter Closing Arguments to get the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and hot cases and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world.

Loading...