Police carried out a search in Hong Kong of the offices of a polling institute that is helping the opposition organize primaries for the country's legislative elections in September, the official said on Saturday.
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This search, which took place Friday evening on the eve of the primaries organized this weekend, comes as China passed on June 30 a draconian national security law, imposed on Hong Kong after months of mass protests. last year. Robert Chung, president of the Public Opinion Research Institute (PORI), an independent public opinion research institute, told reporters that police copied files from computers.
Police said they acted after reports that PORI's computers had been trespassed resulting in an illegal leak of personal data. Mr. Chung said he obtained a " verbal undertaking " from the police not to use information unrelated to the alleged leak.
PORI helped the pro-democracy camp organize the primaries which will nominate candidates for the legislative council elections scheduled for September 6. Mr. Chung assured that the voting system was secure and that the operations were legal and transparent. " The primary elections are a peaceful, rational and non-violent approach to expressing public opinion, " he said.
A former pro-democracy deputy, Au Nok-hin, who helped organize the poll, said the police were seeking to interfere with opposition activities. " This incident is most likely related to the primaries and is aimed at creating a deterrent effect ," he said in a statement. Long queues were visible in several districts in front of the polling stations for these primaries, open Saturday from noon.