Hong Kong police arrested several people on Saturday for alleged attempts to commemorate in public the 33rd anniversary of the crackdown on the pro-democracy movement in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square, according to AFP journalists on the spot.
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These journalists saw at least half a dozen people being taken away by the police, the majority in the evening, including activist Yu Wai -pan, of the League of Social Democrats (LSD), a pro-democracy political party in the sights of the authorities.
Mr. Yu and two other LSD members arrived at the busy shopping district of Causeway Bay in the evening and stood in silence, wearing masks with crosses on their mouths.
They were immediately intercepted by the police to be searched, then released, and Mr. Yu was again arrested a few minutes later as he approached Victoria Park, a traditional place of commemoration of the bloody events of June 4, 1989.
Police confirmed the arrest of an 80-year-old woman for obstruction of law enforcement earlier in the day, but did not provide any further arrest figures by evening.
The authorities had warned that any participation in “unauthorized assemblies” on Saturday would be punishable by five years in prison. They also cordoned off Victoria Park, the scene until 2019 of gigantic candlelight vigils in memory of Tiananmen.
In the evening, many passers-by in the vicinity of Victoria Park turned on the lamp of their mobile phones, failing to light candles. The police summoned them by loudspeaker to turn them off, warning them that they were breaking the law.
Some people were stopped and searched for wearing black clothes, holding flowers or, in one case, a toy tank. Others left lit candles in phone booths or handed out small candle stickers to passers-by.
Asked by AFP what constituted an offense or not, a police officer referred to a later press conference.