4 Hong Kong government workers arrested by national security police
- Home Affairs Department employee and system analyst at Office of the Government Chief Information Officer held on suspicion of publishing seditious materials through social media group
- Investigation into the online group leads to arrest of two paramedics from Fire Services Department on suspicion of fraud
Hong Kong national security police have arrested four government employees on suspicion of posting seditious messages online or committing fraud, the Post has learned.
One of the two men detained for allegedly publishing seditious posts was a clerk at the Home Affairs Department and the other worked as a system analyst at the Office of the Government Chief Information Officer, sources said on Tuesday.
An investigation revealed the two men, aged 28 and 29, were administrators of a social media group, according to police. The online group was called Civil Servant Secrets, one of the insiders said.
“They were suspected of publishing posts on that social media group to disseminate seditious messages that promote feelings of ill will and enmity between different classes of the population of Hong Kong,” the force said.
The pair were detained on suspicion of performing “an act or acts with seditious intention” under the Crimes Ordinance.
As of Tuesday evening, the two men were still being held for questioning and had not been charged.
A spokesman for the Office of the Government Chief Information Officer said the concerned civil servant had been detained and as the case was under police investigation it would not comment further.
Police also identified five paramedics from the Fire Services Department while investigating other posts on the same social media platform.