A police officer (R) from the National Security Division leaves the Hong Kong University Studentsí Union building with a box after conducting a search in Hong Kong on 16 July 2021/AFP

Hong Kong’s national security police on Friday raided buildings at the city’s top university after its student leaders paid tribute to a man who stabbed a policeman.

Anti-police sentiment has been running high in Hong Kong, a deeply polarised city since huge, often violent pro-democracy protests that took place in 2019.

On 1 July a lone attacker knifed a police officer in a busy shopping district before taking his own life in what authorities labelled an act of “domestic terrorism”.

Officials warned people against mourning the attacker, saying any memorials amounted to “advocating violence, inciting hatred and beautifying attacks”.

But the student union council at the University of Hong Kong (HKU) expressed “deep sadness” at the man’s death in a statement, which prompted officials to call for action against the body.

Dozens of police officers with suitcases and boxes arrived at the university on Friday afternoon and searched buildings housing the student union, campus TV station and undergraduate office.

“The police is investigating a case related to advocating terrorism and searched our studio,” Kong Chak-ho, chairperson of the campus TV station told reporters.

A spokesperson for HKU confirmed that “police have entered the campus to investigate a case with a court order” and the university was “obliged to act in compliance”.

The student union council last Friday withdrew its motion expressing sympathy for the attacker and apologised but the backlash has been unrelenting.

Hong Kong’s leader Carrie Lam, who is also the university’s chancellor, on Tuesday called on HKU’s management as well as police to look into the motion for any violation of the law.

She called the resolution by the student union council “infuriating” and said she was “ashamed”.

HKU has severed ties with its own student union while the chairman of the university’s governing council said he would welcome any investigation by national security authorities.

It is not the first time police have entered a university campus in Hong Kong as part of an investigation under the city’s national security law.

Last November, officers arrested at least nine people on suspicion of threatening national security after an on-campus demonstration featuring slogans that authorities have declared illegal.

China imposed the sweeping security law on Hong Kong last year to wipe out dissent after the financial hub was rocked by huge and often violent democracy protests.

More than 100 people, including many of the city’s best known democracy advocates, have been arrested under the law.

— AFP

Subscribe
Notify of
1 Comment
Newest
Oldest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
You May Also Like

PM Anwar could propel human rights at the center of a global conversation

The upcoming attendance of Malaysia’s Prime Minister Anwar at the 75th anniversary commemoration of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR75) could have important symbolic implications for promoting human rights in Southeast Asia and beyond. While human rights are not currently established as a pillar of the strategic framework guiding the work of the Anwar government, they are considered key cross-cutting elements at its foundations. The Prime Minister, who has long been involved in promoting an enlightened version of Islam that embraces human rights and human dignity, now has the opportunity to launch a new global agenda entitled “Human Rights for Responsive Good Governance and Sustainable Development”. This initiative could encourage other middle and developing nations to commit to upholding their human rights commitments and ensure that human rights are central to any new vision for the ASEAN bloc.

Hong Kong starts mass virus testing as China distrust swirls

by Su Xinqi Hong Kong will start conducting mass coronavirus tests on…

Singapore Ministers cleared of misconduct in Ridout Road properties rental ahead of parliamentary debate

Reports from the reivew by Senior Minister Teo Chee Hean and Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau clear Ministers K Shanmugam and Vivian Balakrishnan of misconduct in Ridout Road properties rental, revealing no corruption or conflict of interest. Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong submits findings for parliamentary debate.