Activist out on bail after Victoria Park incident

Veteran activist Lau Shan-ching - who was arrested on Saturday while wearing a mask with a June 4 slogan and a shirt with a mugshot of mainland activist Li Wangyang, has been released on bail.

The League of Social Democrats' Lau, who was held on suspicion of inciting others to take part in an illegal assembly, was among six people - five men and a woman aged 19 to 80 - arrested on the 33rd anniversary of the June 4 incident.

Officers spotted Lau, 69, while he was allegedly yelling slogans in Victoria Park at 7pm and stopped and searched him, police said.

Lau refused to cooperate and was arrested, they added.

He was detained at North Point Police Station overnight and was released on HK$1,000 police bail yesterday. He has to report back to police on July 2.

As Lau walked out of the police station, he said he did not speak or yell slogans before he was arrested.

Four others were arrested for allegedly obstructing officers, including an 80-year-old man surnamed Yuen, who police said refused to cooperate on Sugar Street opposite Victoria Park. He was later temporarily released.

A 59-year-old woman was arrested for allegedly obstructing officers on East Point Road after she refused to present her ID card to officers and refused to follow their instructions.

The other two arrested for the same offense were a 25-year-old van driver and his 19-year-old passenger. Officers found a van parked at Great George Street obstructed traffic and said the driver refused to cooperate.

A 70-year-old foreign man was arrested for possessing an offensive weapon in Victoria Park after officers allegedly found a Swiss Army knife on him.

The 59-year-old woman, 25-year-old driver and 19-year-old passenger as well as the 70-year-old foreign man were all released on police bail yesterday.

Hana Young, deputy regional director of Amnesty International, said the arrests are an "insult to the memory of victims." Young added: "The use of spurious charges of 'sedition' and 'unauthorized assembly' to arrest people is an attack on the right to freedom of expression and an insult to the memory of those who lost their lives on June 4, 1989."

Police closed large parts of Victoria Park, where a candlelight vigil was held annually on the anniversary before 2019.

The Causeway Bay shopping district was heavily policed yesterday. People were stopped and searched for carrying flowers, lighting candles and wearing black.

Meanwhile, the Office of China Foreign Ministry's Commissioner in Hong Kong strongly condemned the United States consulate and the European Union Office in Hong Kong for putting electric candles on their windowsills.

michael.shum@singtaonewscorp.com