Hong Kong police arrest further nine pro-democracy activists

At least nine pro-democracy activists were arrested by Hong Kong police on Thursday - the latest in a string of arrests in connection with an anti-government protest that took place last November. 

The new arrests came only a day after two outspoken pro-independence lawmakers were detained and interrogated by police over their attempt to re-enter a parliamentary meeting, after they had been barred from office for staging an anti-China protest at their swearing-in ceremony weeks earlier.

Activists Derek Lam and Ivan Lam were arrested and charged with unlawful assembly and public disorder, for their involvement in protests against Beijing's intervention to disqualify the two pro-independence politicians Yau Wai-ching and Sixtus "Baggio" Leung.

The two men were later released on bail and will face a court trial on 5 May, according to the pro-democracy political party Demosisto. If convicted of both charges, the duo could face up to six years in prison.

This is the second time they have been arrested since January, when they were released without being charged.

Other activists arrested on Thursday morning included key members of the League of Social Democrats and campaigners from the Student Fight for Democracy group.

“This is the third time doorstep arrests have been made this year, the political suppression is not over yet,” wrote Avery Ng, chairman of the League of Social Democrats, in a Facebook post. He was one of the arrested who were later released on bail.

The fact that pro-democracy groups seem to be repeatedly targeted by police will not appear as a coincidence to many, who fear that these events are the latest signs of Hong Kong's ever-tightening grip on political dissent.

Last month, nine political activists were arrested in connection with the widespread pro-democracy protests of 2014 the day after Hong Kong's new Chief Executive, Carrie Lam, was elected.

Among them were two former student protest leaders, and the founders of Occupy Central which later became the pro-democracy Umbrella Movement. 

The timing of the latest wave of arrests also coincides with the last two months in office of the current Chief Executive, Leung Chin-ying.

Experts believe that Mr Leung wishes to consolidate power to curry favour in Beijing before Ms Lam takes up his post in July.

“Leung has two months left and will maintain his hawkish attitude, and there may be more arrests to come,” Ma Ngok, professor of politics at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, told The Guardian.  

Ms Lam is due to be sworn in as Hong Kong's new Chief Executive on July 1, the 20th anniversary of the former British colony's handover to China.

It is widely anticipated that the current Chinese president, Xi Jinping, will be visiting the city around this time, in a climate of heightened political sensitivities. 

Demosisto is reportedly planning to mark the event and Ms Lam's inauguration with a "large civil disobedience protest".

Mr Derek Lam, 23, who is a member of the pro-democracy party, claims that the arrests were part of an attempt to stop activists from demonstrating on this date.

"[Leung Chin-ying] is clearly trying to eliminate and scare those who want to want to fight for democracy, the legislators and the students, through arrests and legal tactics," he said. 

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