A pop star, academic and pro-democracy cardinal were arrested in Hong Kong on Wednesday under national security law, police and justice sources told Agence France-Presse (AFP).
These very prominent personalities have in common to have participated in the management of a fund – now dissolved – intended to finance the defense of activists arrested during the major pro-democracy demonstrations which shook the former British colony in 2019.
Among them are academic Hui Po-keung, Canadian singer Denise Ho, an LGBTQ rights activist, and retired Cardinal Joseph Zen, 90, one of the most senior Catholic clerics in the financial metropolis, these sources confirmed to the AFP.
According to local media, the pro-democracy Catholic cardinal and singer Denise Ho were released on bail hours later by pro-Beijing authorities in the territory.
A former bishop of Hong Kong, where 400,000 Catholics live, Cardinal Zen is known for not mincing his words and for his tireless defense of political freedoms and democratic reforms.
In a statement issued Wednesday evening, the Holy See said it had “learned with concern the news of the arrest of Cardinal Zen and followed[vre] the development of the situation with extreme attention”.
The prelate has always spoken out against any agreement between the Catholic Church and Beijing on the appointment of Chinese bishops, believing that it would be a betrayal of the persecuted members of the unofficial Church in China.
The Vatican and China have not had diplomatic relations since 1951, but a historic “provisional” agreement was signed in September 2018 with Beijing on the appointment of bishops.
“For decades, the government [chinois] made life hard for them, but they remained loyal to Rome and the pope. And now they’re being asked to surrender? he lamented in an interview with AFP in 2018.
Hui Po-keung was preparing for his part to join Europe for a university post before being arrested on Tuesday, the two sources also indicated, asking to remain anonymous.
Mr Hui was arrested for “colluding with foreign forces”, according to a source, which is punishable under the national security law imposed by Beijing on Hong Kong in 2020 in response to huge protests the previous year.
This law has crushed all dissent in this Asian business center, where expression was once free.
Mr. Hui was one of six trustees of the “612 Humanitarian Relief Fund,” which helped arrested protesters pay their legal and medical bills.
Other trustees included lawyer Margaret Ng as well as pro-democracy activist now behind bars Cyd Ho.
The fund was dismantled last year after national security police demanded access to information about its donors and beneficiaries.
Shortly before the fund was closed, Lingnan University in Hong Kong, where Mr. Hui taught for more than 20 years, confirmed the end of his teaching contract, refusing to give reasons for confidentiality for reasons of confidentiality. .
Academics who have played prominent roles in Hong Kong’s pro-democracy movement have often lost their university positions and struggle to find work.