Hong Kong national security law: 10 linked to protest fund released on bail after arrest
- Four men and six women were detained on suspicion of conspiracy to collude with foreign forces to endanger national security
- 612 Humanitarian Relief Fund has provided more than HK$243 million to protesters facing prosecution or financial hardship over 2019 unrest
Ten suspects in Hong Kong linked to a now-disbanded fund for protesters in the 2019 anti-government unrest have been released on bail following their arrests by national security police.
“All arrestees have already been granted bail pending investigations, and are required to report to the force in mid-September,” police on Saturday said.
Bobo Yip Po-lam, one of the 10 who was released from Ma On Shan Police Station in the early hours of Saturday, did not take any media questions before boarding a car.
National security police arrested the 10 – four men and six women aged 26 to 43 – on Thursday over conspiracy to collude with foreign forces to endanger national security and inciting riots. They were former staff members and people affiliated with the 612 Humanitarian Relief Fund.
The force earlier said its investigation indicated the suspects had conspired to collude with the fund to “receive donations from various overseas organisations to support people who have fled overseas or organisations which called for sanctions against Hong Kong”.
In May last year, retired Catholic leader Cardinal Joseph Zen Ze-kiun was among five former trustees of the disbanded fund arrested by police for allegedly colluding with foreign forces.
The other four trustees are former opposition lawmakers Margaret Ng Ngoi-yee and Cyd Ho Sau-lan, singer Denise Ho Wan-see and former Lingnan University academic Hui Po-keung.