Hong Kong’s national security police have announced the arrests of five people for allegedly manufacturing weapons during the 2019 protests and unrest.
Two men and three women, aged between 32 and 60, were arrested on Tuesday by the police force’s National Security Department, according to a statement issued on Wednesday.
The five are suspected of committing the offences of aiding and abetting a riot, inciting a riot, and conspiring to incite a riot – all under the Public Order Ordinance.
One of the men is also accused of sedition, an offence under Hong Kong’s homegrown national security legislation, the Safeguarding National Security Ordinance, known colloquially as Article 23, according to the police force.
He allegedly published social media posts “inciting hatred against the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government and encouraging unlawful behaviour.”
Ng Tsz-lok, one of the defendants in a months-long terrorism trial that ended in his acquittal last month, was among those arrested on Tuesday.
Ng was among seven defendants cleared of terrorism charges on September 4 over bomb plots related to the 2019 protests. An eighth defendant was found not guilty of attempting to make an explosive.
Cash seizure
The police seized about HK$250,000 in cash and detained the suspects for further investigation.
One woman, aged 50, is also suspected of perverting the course of public justice by “attempting to assist one of the arrested men in removing evidence related to the case,” according to the police statement.
Citing anonymous sources, HK01 reported that one of the suspects “violently resisted” and shouted his name and phone number when he was arrested in Wong Tai Sin. The 50-year-old woman attempted to destroy the evidence once she learned that he had been arrested.
The suspects are expected to be mentioned at the West Kowloon Magistrates’ Courts on Thursday afternoon.
Separate from the Beijing-enacted national security law, the Safeguarding National Security Ordinance targets treason, insurrection, sabotage, external interference, sedition, theft of state secrets, and espionage.
The maximum sentence for the sedition offence, under Article 23, is seven years in prison.
The security laws were enacted following protests that erupted in June 2019 over a since-axed extradition bill. The demonstrations escalated into sometimes violent displays of dissent against police behaviour, amid calls for democracy, and anger over Beijing’s encroachment.
