Hong Kong lawmaker Cheng Chung-tai charged over upside down flags
In message posted at 9.30pm, Civic Passion’s Cheng Chung-tai said he was approached in Sham Shui Po and invited to Central Police Station
Localist lawmaker Cheng Chung-tai has been arrested and charged for desecrating the national and Hong Kong flags inside the Legislative Council chamber last year.
Cheng, leader of Civic Passion, was released from Central Police Station on a bail at about 1am. He has been ordered to appear in Eastern Court on April 18.
“We need to accumulate strength to face more difficult challenges,” Cheng said to supporters outside the police station.
In a Facebook message posted at 9.30pm on Tuesday, Cheng said he had been approached by about ten police officers outside the Proletariat Political Institute, a political organisation and school headed by former lawmaker Wong Yuk-man in Sham Shui Po.
Cheng said he had been invited to Central Police Station to go through the procedure of arrest.
On Monday, Cheng said he had been notified by police that he would be charged for desecrating the national and Hong Kong flags after he turned those displayed by pro-Beijing colleagues upside down in the Legislative Council chamber last year.
He was seen being transported from Cheung Sha Wan to the Central police station in a police vehicle at about 11pm.
Watch: Cheng being approached by police
A police spokesman confirmed the arrest on Tuesday night, which was made after seeking legal advice, and added that Cheng was being detained for enquiries.
The police source said Cheng would be charged for desecrating the national and Hong Kong flags on Wednesday morning. He was expected to be released on a bail afterwards.
On October 19 last year, Cheng upended the small national and Hong Kong flags that lawmakers from the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong had displayed on their desks.
He did so after the pro-establishment bloc had staged a walkout to prevent Sixtus Baggio Leung Chung-hang and Yau Wai-ching from retaking their oaths after they insulted China. The pair were later disqualified.
