He is considered one of the leading figures in the democracy movement in Hong Kong: Joshua Wong. Because of his role in the "umbrella" movement in 2014, the 22-year-old former student leader had last served a two-month prison sentence. In June, he was released prematurely due to good leadership from prison. Now he might have to go back there.
Shortly after the ban on a new mass demonstration in Hong Kong, he and two other prominent activists from the protest movement were arrested in the Chinese Special Administrative Region. Wong was on his way to a subway station on Friday morning (local time) when the police arrested him and sent him to a police station, Demosisto told his anti-Democratic party. His fellow Agnes Chow was also arrested, but in a different location.
Already on Thursday evening, according to a media report, the leader of the banned Hong Kong National Party independence party, Andy Chan, was arrested at the international airport of the metropolis, from where he wanted to fly to Japan. According to the Hong Kong Free Press news site, he is accused of participating in riots and assaulting a police officer.
Since June 9, there are always protests in the financial metropolis. They are already taking longer than the wave of demonstrations five years ago. At that time, protesters for civil rights activist Wong had paralyzed parts of the former British Crown Colony for weeks.
The demonstrations this summer often end in clashes between a small section of the protesters and the police. The protest movement fears increasing influence of the Chinese government on Hong Kong. The demonstrators also call for an independent investigation of police violence during the protests. It was not until Wednesday that thousands of people took to the streets again.
A mass protest scheduled for Saturday has banned Hong Kong police. A request by the organizers of the Civil Human Rights Front protest group was rejected, according to the Hong Kong newspaper "South China Morning Post." The group, which had on several occasions over a million people on the streets in recent weeks, originally wanted to hold a rally and a march to the liaison office of the Chinese government on Saturday.
Demonstration bans have occurred during the protests again and again. Nevertheless, many protesters took to the streets. According to reports, a march and a congregation were for the first time prohibited together. The police reasoned their decision therefore that new riots were feared.