Order under the National Security Act, the retired cardinal Joseph Zen and singer Denise Ho were finally released under bail, a few hours later, by the pro-Pékin of the territory.
Le Monde with AFP
A pop star, an academic and a pro -democracy cardinal in Hong Kong were arrested under the National Security Act on Wednesday, May 11, announced police and justice sources. These very prominent personalities have in common that they have participated in the management of a fund – now dissolved – intended to finance the defense of activists arrested during the major pro -democracy demonstrations that rocked the former British colony in 2019.
Among them are the academic Hu-Keung, singer Denise Ho, activist of LGBTQ+rights, and retired cardinal Joseph Zen, 90, one of the highest Catholic ecclesiastics in the financial metropolis.
These last two were finally released on bail, a few hours after their arrest, by the pro-peak authorities in the territory, a local media announced. The retired cardinal Joseph Zen appears to greet the journalists on a video posted on Twitter, when he left a police station in the Wan Chai district.
new: @cardjosephzen has been released on bail https://t.co/mpasb1g95f https://t.co/uykgdz8jfa
Shortly before, the White House had called for the immediate release of these personalities, notably Cardinal Joseph Zen. In a statement published Wednesday evening, the Vatican reported having “learned with concern the news of the arrest of Cardinal Zen and follows the evolution of the situation with extreme attention”.
Former bishop of Hong Kong, where 400,000 Catholics live, Cardinal Zen is known to not chew his words and for his tireless defense of political freedoms and democratic reforms.
The prelate has always risen against any agreement between the Catholic and Beijing Church on the appointment of Chinese bishops, believing that it would be betrayal towards the persecuted members of the Church , unofficial in China. The Vatican and China have no longer had diplomatic relations since 1951 but a historic “provisional” agreement had been signed in September 2018 with Beijing on the appointment of bishops. “For decades, the [Chinese] government made their lives hard but they remained loyal to Rome and the Pope. And now they are asked to surrender?”, He had deplored in an interview At the Agency France-Presse in 2018.
particularly targeted academics
Hui Po-Keung was preparing to join Europe for a university position before being arrested on Tuesday, the two sources reported, asking to keep anonymity. Mr. Hui was arrested for “collusion with foreign forces”, according to one of these sources, which is punishable by the national security law imposed by Beijing in Hongking in 2020, in response to the immense demonstrations of the previous year .
This law crushed any dissent in this Asian business center where expression was once free. Mr. Hui was one of the six administrators of the 612 Humanitarian Relief Fund, a fund which helped the demonstrators arrested to pay their legal and medical expenses.
Among the other administrators were lawyer Margaret NG as well as the pro -democracy activist today behind bars Cyd Ho. The fund was dismantled last year after the police responsible for national security claimed access information about its donors and beneficiaries.
Shortly before the Fund closure, Lingnan University of Hong Kong, where Mr. Hui taught for more than twenty years, had confirmed the end of his teacher contract, refusing, for the sake of confidentiality, to give them the reasons. The academics who played an important role in the Hong Kong Prodemocracy movement have often lost their post at university and struggle to find work.