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SCMP Reporter

About 200 activists and supporters of the Alliance in Support of  Patriotic Democratic Movements in China took to the streets yesterday in protest against what they say is  political suppression of the group.
They claim the  arrests of  alliance activists for taking part in a protest against mainland  leaders was politically motivated and that Hong Kong police had acted on Beijing's orders.
The alliance was once branded as subversive by the central government.
Wearing black T-shirts bearing the slogan 'Oppose political persecution', the crowd waved banners and chanted slogans while marching from the police headquarters in Wan Chai to the government headquarters in Central.
In the crowd were  pro-democracy legislators including Emily Lau Wai-hing,  Lee Wing-tat  and Leung Yiu-chung.  
The alliance said  300 people took part in yesterday's march. Police estimated there were about 170 people. 
Marchers  chanted slogans demanding the release  of  author-dissident Liu Xiaobo, who was sentenced to 11 years in jail by a Beijing court on Christmas Day last year  for co-authoring the manifesto Charter 08.
The ruling prompted the alliance to stage a protest that day  outside the central government  liaison office in Western. Six of the activists, including five from the alliance, were arrested and charged last month  with unlawful assembly inside the office compound.
The six are Richard Tsoi Yiu-cheong,  Lee Cheuk-yan,  Leung Kwok-hung,  Leung Kwok-wah,  and Li Yiu-kee  of the alliance, and fellow activist Koo Sze-yiu  of the April Fifth Action Group.
They are expected to appear in  court on Thursday.  
Szeto Wah, chairman of the alliance,  said: 'It is political suppression. The government wants to silence our voice. But we shall not be frightened off. We shall continue to fight and voice our views over human rights and democracy.'
Szeto, who is undergoing chemotherapy for lung cancer, said his health was fine and he would continue taking part in protests.
He did not take part in the procession but showed up at the beginning and end of the rally. He appeared in good spirits, although he was in a wheelchair most of the time. 
In a statement, police said they were politically neutral.
'All the arrest and prosecution actions are based on the facts and evidence collected but not on an individual's political demand and background,' it said.
A government spokesman said the authorities respected the right of the public to peaceful assemblies and processions. He said there had been more than 30,000 public assemblies and processions in Hong Kong since the handover in 1997.
'It is thus evident that since the [handover], the public continues to enjoy a high degree of freedom of assembly,' he said.



Alliance protests at 'political suppression'