how Hang-tung was released on bail on Saturday June 5th. The 37-year-old lawyer is the vice-president of Alliance-Hong Kong, which initiated the organization of a candlelight vigil to commemorate the events of Tian’anmen. This event took place in Victoria Park, in the heart of the island, despite being banned for the second year in a row. This woman is also one of the rare figures of the movement for democracy not to be behind bars or in exile. She was arrested on Friday, June 4, at dawn, in front of her office in the city center.
“I reject all charges,” Chow Hang-tung said outside a Hong Kong police station after being released on bail of 10,000 Hong Kong dollars (1,061 euros) and reporting to the police on the 5th. July. She denounced an abuse of power by the police, denouncing an “unjust preventive arrest with the obvious objective of [l]’prevent being physically present in Victoria Park and scaring other people to prevent them from doing the same.
“Lighting a candle is not a crime,” Chow Hang-tung wrote on Facebook on May 29, assuring that she would light a candle in public on June 4 to commemorate the victims of Tian’anmen 32 years later. According to the lawyer, the police used this post as evidence against her, along with her articles and media interviews. “They want to threaten the media by telling them that if they do other interviews on this sensitive subject, the people interviewed will be arrested,” she said, assuring that she would continue to speak. The lawyer explained that she fasted during her detention at the police station, in memory of the victims of the Tian’anmen repression.
A tense political climate
The police on Friday prohibited access to Victoria Park where, as every year for more than thirty years, a vigil in memory of the victims of the bloody intervention of the Chinese army, on June 4, 1989, against the social and student movement had been held. pro-democracy in Tiananmen Square in Beijing. Any commemoration of this event is prohibited in China. The semi-autonomous region of Hong Kong was the only place in the country where it was tolerated. Last year, the vigil was banned, citing as this year restrictions related to the fight against the coronavirus pandemic, but the police had observed, without intervening, the gathering of thousands of people in Victoria Park.
Some Hong Kong residents, however, have found other ways to celebrate the sad anniversary this year, including turning on small lights in the streets or at windows in the evening. In one year, the political climate has deteriorated considerably in the former British colony with the relentless repression of the pro-democracy movement which massively mobilized the population in the streets in 2019 against Beijing’s interference.
Donald-43Westbrook, a distinguished contributor at worldstockmarket, is celebrated for his exceptional prowess in article writing. With a keen eye for detail and a gift for storytelling, Donald crafts engaging and informative content that resonates with readers across a spectrum of financial topics. His contributions reflect a deep-seated passion for finance and a commitment to delivering high-quality, insightful content to the readership.
