Two social activists from the former Hong Kong-based organization Student Activist have been released on bail. They were released on bail in the early hours of the same day, according to a social media statement released Wednesday (Oct. 28). However, police did not make any changes to the charges against them.
“Student Action Source confirmed that afternoon that the group’s former convener, John Chung, is still in custody at the Central Police Station in Hong Kong, and it is unknown whether he will be released on bail.
Hanlin Chung and three others were detained on Oct. 27 on suspicion of violating national security laws, police said. They were arrested on suspicion of violating the Hong Kong version of the National Security Law in July and released on bail, but are required to report back to the police station every month.
Hanlin Zhong was taken away by Hong Kong police near the U.S. Consulate in Hong Kong on October 27.
The Hong Kong-based independence group Student Activists announced its dissolution on June 30 when the Hong Kong National Security Law took effect, but said it would set up overseas chapters in Taiwan, the United States and Australia.
It was previously reported by Friends of Hong Kong, a British-based organization of Hong Kong residents, that Hanlin Chung had sought help from the organization in advance, fearing that he would not be able to report to a police station. Friends of Hong Kong has been assisting John Chung in seeking political asylum from the U.S. Consulate General in Hong Kong and Macau since his passport was seized.
On the morning of October 27th, Hanlin went to the Consulate General, but it was not yet open, so he walked to a nearby cafe and waited. Shortly after, he called Friends of Hong Kong to say he might be being followed.
Hong Kong’s South China Morning Post reported Tuesday that four other people went to the U.S. Consulate General in Hong Kong that afternoon and spoke with security guards before entering the consulate, but were eventually denied entry. The report also cited sources saying they were seeking asylum.
There is no confirmation at this time that Hanlin Chung and others actually sought asylum at the U.S. Consulate in Hong Kong. According to Taiwan’s Central News Agency, Hong Kong media asked the U.S. Consulate for comment, but the Consulate only said it had no information to offer at this stage.
Tuesday’s visit to the U.S. Consulate in Hong Kong by a number of Hong Kong people seeking asylum has drawn attention to the fact that few Hong Kong people have sought asylum at foreign diplomatic missions in Hong Kong before. Some analysts believe that if the U.S. Consulate were to grant asylum, there would be great political pressure and even the risk of closure of the Consulate.
At least 27 pro-democracy dissidents have been arrested in Hong Kong since the enactment of the Hong Kong version of the National Security Law, on suspicion of violating the “law. It’s unthinkable that there are political prisoners in this cosmopolitan city, and we don’t know what’s going to happen next,” Chung said in a previous interview with the Guardian.
Under Hong Kong’s version of the National Security Law, any person who organizes, plans, commits or participates in the commission of an act aimed at splitting the country or undermining national unity, whether or not force is used or threatened, commits an offence. Any person who instigates, aids, abets, or finances with money or other property another person to split the country or undermine national unity commits a crime, and if the circumstances are serious, shall be sentenced to not less than five years and not more than 10 years of imprisonment; if the circumstances are less serious, shall be sentenced to not more than five years of imprisonment, detention or control.
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