Hong Kong’s vigilante organizer is shrinking from the “harsh” political climate of Human Rights News

The Hong Kong Alliance for Democracy, formed as a result of the Tiananmen Square crackdown, says it will “last” with smaller groups

One of Hong Kong’s most prominent civil society groups is letting all its staff go and is halving the size of its organizing committee in response to the so-called “harsh political environment” in the territory, one year after the National Security Act (NSL) was enacted.

The Hong Kong Alliance for the National Democratic Movement of China (Hong Kong Alliance) has said it has experienced “increasingly severe and severe political repression” and has decided to reduce the size of its Standing Committee to seven after much discussion. and, to ensure their safety, the dismissal of all employees by the end of July.

Three current members of the Standing Committee have already been arrested.

“The Hong Kong Alliance recognizes that reducing the number of members of the Standing Committee, laying off all staff and retiring some members of the organization in recent months will affect future work and requires understanding of all parties,” the group said in a statement. , in the face of these difficulties and challenges, the Hong Kong Alliance will continue to thrive step by step. “

Hong Kong’s pro-democracy groups and elected politicians have come under pressure since China enacted security legislation in late June last year and have arrested dozens as alleged threats to national security.

The Hong Kong Alliance, which annually attracts vigil in Tiananmen Square tens of thousands in 2019 before the government banned it – in addition to blaming the coronavirus, it has been the target of ongoing criticism from pro-Beijing groups. The military crackdown on mass protests in Beijing in 1989 is believed to have left hundreds dead.

The broad-based NSL punishes subversion, terrorism, links to foreign forces, and secession to life imprisonment.

Lee Cheuk-yan’s alliance chair and two vice presidents Albert Ho and Chow Hang-tung are in jail.

Chow has been denied bail on charges of “vigilance” banned this year while Lee and Ho are serving an 18-month prison sentence in connection with the October 1, 2019 protest.

“I hope that by now Hong Kong people will realize that only a democratic China can guarantee their rights, and that the fight for democracy is part of a bigger struggle,” Chow told Al Jazeera in a recent interview. before arrest.

On Monday, the RTHK announcer said that five other people had been arrested in connection with an alleged pro-independence group called “Brave Back”.

The arrests arrested nine people last week, including six high school students, for a year alleged bomb plot.