Hong Kong witnesses protest over second anniversary of 2-19 anti-govt demonstrations

Police arrested two student leaders on suspicion of promoting and inciting others to take part in unauthorised events marking the anniversary.

Opposition activists Wong Yat-chin, 20, and Wong Yuen-lam, 19, the convenor and spokeswoman respectively for Student Politicism, were detained on Friday and accused of inciting others to join unlawful assemblies, as well as advertising or publicising illegal gatherings, police source told The South China Morning Post.

Superintendent Wilson Tam Wai-shun, of the Cyber Security and Technology Crime Bureau, told the newspaper on Friday evening that the pair, who were arrested in Tung Chung and Lai Chi Kok, had allegedly posted messages on various platforms to invite other people to go to gatherings at Mong Kok and Causeway Bay on Saturday to mark the second anniversary of the protests.

Tam said the duo had also incited others to use violence in their protests, including throwing petrol bombs. He added that officers were investigating and further arrests were possible.

“Police so far have not received any applications for assemblies or processions for Saturday, but it was very irresponsible that the arrested had advertised or publicised an unauthorised event, or made participants criminally liable,” Tam said.

Police sources earlier told the newspaper they were planning to deploy more than 2,000 officers across the city on Saturday after activists appealed online for people to come together on June 12, a key date of the 2019 protests when tens of thousands descended on the legislature to block the second reading of the government’s now-withdrawn extradition bill.

Hong Kong has witnessed numerous protests over the years on numerous actions taken by China.