Hundreds march on National Day in support of political prisoners

Hundreds of people marched yesterday to call for the immediate release of mainland political prisoners, saying that for them National Day is a day of shame.

Protesters marched silently from Causeway Bay to government headquarters in Admiralty, each wearing a white card around their neck with a political prisoner's name written on it.

Lee Cheuk-yan, one of the organisers of the protest, said more than 141 people had been arrested for exercising their rights in China since March this year, far more than in past years.

"We have no national pride on National Day, only shame," Lee said. "China should move onto the road of political reform and start to respect human rights."

He said human rights conditions in China were worsening and called for UN member states to reject China as a member of the Human Rights Council.

Among the marchers was Jens Galschiot, the Danish sculptor who created the University of Hong Kong's Pillar of Shame to commemorate the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown.