Hong Kong police have detained several pro-democracy figures attempting to commemorate the 34th anniversary of the bloody Tiananmen Square crackdown in China.
For years, Hongkongers would converge on the city’s Victoria Park and its surrounding neighbourhood to commemorate the events of 4 June 1989, taking part in candlelight vigils. But since Beijing’s imposition of the national security law on Hong Kong in 2020 to quell dissent, the annual vigil has been banned and the organisers were charged under the law.
This weekend, scores of police were deployed in the area, stopping people to search their belongings and question them.
By late afternoon, reporters had witnessed at least 10 people taken away by police in vans – including Chan Po-ying, the leader of the city’s League of Social Democrats, one of the last few remaining opposition groups. The veteran activist was holding a small LED candle and two flowers, before she was immediately seized by police.
Credit: theguardian.com
