Hong Kong police launch series of raids on Civil Human Rights Front following missed deadline for disclosing financial, other records
- Officers swoop on four premises on Thursday in response to now-disbanded front refusing to disclose information to investigators
- The group announced its dissolution in August within a few months of police opening their probe into the legality of its operations
Dozens of police officers carried out a series of raids on Thursday to gather evidence against the now-disbanded umbrella group behind many of Hong Kong’s biggest protests following its failure to meet a deadline for handing over information on its activities and finances.
A force insider said the raids were mounted in response to the 19-year-old Civil Human Rights Front refusing to disclose materials, requested by police in April, detailing its funding sources, expenses and related bank accounts, or provide an explanation for not registering with the government.
Officers from the Hong Kong Island crime unit swooped on four locations on Thursday after obtaining search warrants from a court.
The source said one of the premises, located in an industrial unit in Cheung Sha Wan, was the office of another pro-opposition group, the League of Social Democrats.
Chan Po-ying, the league’s chairwoman, accused police of seeking to spread fear with the latest raids. The force’s explanation that its search was prompted by the fact that the league had once received information from the front was “ridiculous”, she added.
“The front used to have more than 100 member groups, but why did the police only raid the league’s office?” she said. “It is a form of political intimidation which is meant to create white terror.”
“The league and the front are two different organisations, and we do not have any information concerning the front,” she added.
Another venue raided on Thursday was the former home of ex-front convenor Figo Chan Ho-wun, who was jailed for more than 20 months for taking part in unauthorised protests.