Hong Kong national security law: from protesters to a fleeing ex-lawmaker, a reporter and a media tycoon – arrests that grabbed 2020 headlines

In the wake of the anti-government movement of 2019, 2020 was no less turbulent for city’s political landscape

Among the top political news of the year were the arrest of Apple Daily founder Jimmy Lai, jailing of opposition figures and the Shenzhen trial of 12 city fugitives caught at sea

6-MIN READ6-MIN

People Power activist Tam Tak-chi (centre) is arrested in Causeway Bay during an anti-government demonstration on May 24, 2020. Photo: May Tse

Published: 10:00am, 1 Jan 2021Updated: 10:00am, 1 Jan 2021

The past year saw a number of high-profile arrests in Hong Kong. Those who got a knock on the door from police included prominent opposition figures involved in the anti-government protests of 2019, as well as last year’s June 4 vigil.

Following the Beijing-imposed national security law in June, scores of others, including defiant media tycoon Jimmy Lai Chee-ying, were among the first batch of suspects rounded up by a new specialised police unit created to target national security crimes.

The Post looks at 10 arrests in 2020 that grabbed headlines:

1. Jimmy Lai, Apple Daily founder

Despite being cleared of a criminal intimidation charge against a reporter from a rival newspaper earlier last year, Lai, the boss of Apple Daily, a tabloid-style publication often supportive of anti-government protesters, was arrested in August and again in December, and was charged with commercial fraud and colluding with foreign powers.

Police raided Apple Daily’s office in Tseung Kwan O during the August arrest, also detaining his two sons and three senior executives, two of whom had since been charged for fraud. Prosecutors have accused Lai of using his Twitter and Apple Daily platform to call for sanctions against the Hong Kong government. For the fraud case, Lai was accused of subletting office space at the Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation, a government-owned enterprise, to a secretarial firm to evade land premiums.