Hong Kong police on Tuesday questioned three family members of self-exiled democracy activist Nathan Law, media reports said, a week after he and seven others were targeted with arrest warrants and bounties for alleged crimes under the Beijing-imposed National Security Law.
Law¡¯s parents and older brother were taken into custody without being formally arrested, and they were released after being questioned, a police source told the AFP news agency. Police were probing whether the family members had given Law financial support or whether they were acting on his behalf in Hong Kong, AFP said, citing the police source.
On July 3, authorities in Hong Kong issued warrants for the eight overseas-based activists and offered a reward of 1 million Hong Kong dollars ($127,000) each for information leading to their arrests. They were accused of crimes including incitement to secession, subversion, incitement to subversion, and collusion with a foreign country or with external elements to endanger national security.
The activists now reside in the U.S., the U.K. and Australia, and all three nations have condemned the bounties. Law fled Hong Kong in the summer of 2020 after the security law came into force, and has since been granted asylum in the U.K.
Mark Sabah, the U.K. and EU director of the Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong Foundation, called the questioning of Law¡¯s family members ¡°sinister.¡±
¡°This tactic mirrors how the Chinese government targets the families of Uyghurs, Tibetans and other dissidents abroad,¡± Sabah said in a statement. ¡°This latest escalation is clearly designed to intimidate and silence Hong Kongers abroad from exposing the true nature of the Hong Kong authorities and their Beijing masters.¡±
Also on Tuesday, Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee urged the public to stay away from the activists and to treat them like ¡°street rats,¡± the Hong Kong Free Press reported. He also said police have already gathered some information about the activists and that authorities would probe those alleged to be supporting them ¡°behind the scenes,¡± the report said.
Tuesday¡¯s developments also came after authorities last week arrested five men for allegedly supporting the activists.
The security law, part of a wider crackdown on dissent, was passed after months of massive pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong, some of which turned violent.
In addition to Law, the targeted exiled activists include former lawmakers Ted Hui and Dennis Kwok, activists Anna Kwok and Finn Lau, academic Kevin Yam, unionist Mung Siu-tat and online commentator Yuan Gong-yi, according to a government news release.
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