Hong Kong group behind disintegration of large pro-democracy protests amid police pressure | Hong Kong

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A major group of civil society behind some of Hong Kong’s biggest protests has been dismantled under increasing pressure from the police.

The Civil Human Rights Front (CHRF) announced its closure on Sunday, saying no members were willing to perform secretarial duties after its organizer, Viggo Chan Ho-won, was imprisoned for 18 months during the 2019 rally.

The 19-year-old umbrella organization, which in the past counted many political parties as members, was an important presence or organizer of the protests in Hong Kong. For years in a row, she organized annual July 1 protests, until the authorities began systematically denying permission for her and other gatherings, under the pretext of the coronavirus.

“For more than a year, the government has consistently used the pandemic as a reason to deny requests for demonstrations from CHRF and other groups — every member group has been repressed, and civil society has been facing unprecedented challenges,” CHRF said in a statement. Via local media.

“The CHRF originally hoped to continue to meet the challenge with everyone in the current ways, but meeting organizer Vighu Chan is already in prison due to several cases, and the secretariat can no longer continue its operations. With no members participating in the next secretariat, we can only say We reluctantly announce our solution.”

Chan, 25, was jailed in May along with other high-profile activists from Hong Kong, Lee Chuk Yan, Jimmy Lai, Albert Ho and Leung “Long Hair” Kwok Hang, for participating in a protest on October 1, 2019, and is one of hundreds . Pro-democracy rallies were held in Hong Kong that year, which coincided with China’s National Day.

The protest saw violent clashes and chaos in the streets, as police used tear gas and water cannons against protesters, some of whom threw Molotov cocktails and set fires. An 18-year-old student was shot by a police officer.

The dismissal came just days after the police chief suggested that previous rallies organized by the Commission on Human Rights and Freedoms may have violated the national security law, despite the Commission on Human Rights and Freedoms obtaining permits and repeated reassurances from the authorities that the 13-month-old law has no effect. retroactive.

Police have been investigating CHRF’s finances since April, and the South China Morning Post on Sunday quoted a source linked to the government as saying that police will continue to pursue the group regardless of its dissolution.

In a statement on Sunday, the CHRF thanked the people of Hong Kong for walking with them over the past two decades, which “has allowed the world to see Hong Kong, allowed light to shine in the darkness, and sowed the seed of democracy and freedom in people’s hearts.”

CHRF’s dissolution comes just days after Hong Kong’s largest teachers’ union announced its dissolution. Civil society and community groups are under increasing political pressure in the city, as authorities continue to crack down on anything that could be interpreted as opposition or anti-Beijing sentiment.

Last month, five members of a speech therapists union were arrested for publishing children’s books about sheep trying to keep wolves away from their village. The books, which were said to have sought to explain the democratic movement to children, were accused of being seditious content.

The dissolution of the CHRF and the teachers’ union came on the heels of successive articles in Chinese state media targeting the organizations.

“For any anti-Chinese and problematic forces, it is only a matter of time for them to overcome the ruin,” the People’s Daily, China’s largest state media, said on Tuesday.

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