Six arrested for seditious intent, the first under the domestic national security law

Six people were arrested on Tuesday for violating the Safeguarding National Security Ordinance, the new Hong Kong domestic national security law that has been in effect since March. 

The national security police arrested the six using the new security law for the first time.

The arrestees included the activist Tonyee Chow Hang-tung, one of the former organizers of the annual vigil in remembrance of the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown on pro-democracy protests. 

She was said to have continued publishing seditious posts concerning the June 4 Incident on Facebook with the help of five others, though she was under detention at Tai Lam Centre for Women.

They were suspected of using anonymous accounts to publish content that provoked hatred toward the central government, the HKSAR government, and the Judiciary since April. 

They were also accused of inciting others to get involved in organizing and participating in illegal activities.

Apart from Chow, the other arrestees were four women and one man, aged between 37 and 65. All of them were suspected of violating Section 24 of the Ordinance - offenses in connection with seditious intent. The offense carries a maximum penalty of seven years of imprisonment.

It was learned that activists Lau Ka-yee, Kwan Chun-pong, ex-district councilor Katrina Chan Kim-kam and Chow's mother were among the arrested, according to local reports.

Officers have also raided the homes of five arrestees and seized some electronic communication devices used to publish the seditious messages.

"It is relating to a forthcoming sensitive date but I would like to reiterate that the main crime is not about the subject," said Secretary for Security Chris Tang Ping-keung. "It is about their utilising of the subject during which they incited hatred against the Central Government, our Hong Kong Government and the Judiciary. This incitement of hatred is the cause of the crime."

(Updated at 8.39 pm)