Koo Sze-yiu, 75, allegedly wanted to protest outside the Beijing Liaison Office to draw attention to imprisoned members of the pro-democracy movement. Meanwhile in Guangzhou, a Christian who has been in prison for months will be put on trial on 11 February for calling for prayers in memory of those who died in Tiananmen.
Hong Kong (AsiaNews/Agencies) - While China was propagating an image of unity and confidence in the future to the world in the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics in Beijing , far from the TV screens there were persistent reports of the repression of dissent. Just yesterday in Hong Kong, Koo Sze-yiu, a 75-year-old activist suffering from advanced cancer, was re-arrested.
He had announced his intention to demonstrate in front of the Beijing Liaison Office on the opening day of the Winter Olympics to remind the world of the fate of the pro-democracy movement members who are in jail in Hong Kong on charges of violating the infamous National Security Act. He himself had suffered the same fate several times in the past and was released in July.
However, Koo could not carry out his protest: police arrested him at dawn at his home in the Winsum Industrial Building for 'inciting subversive activities against the state'. Chan Po-ying, president of the League of Social Democrats, told the Hong Kong Free Press, "It is appalling that even protesting in front of the Beijing Office is now considered incitement to subversion".
Yesterday, China Aid also reported on the fate of Gao Heng, a Christian from Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, the closest province to Hong Kong. A member of the Guangzhou Bible Reformed Church, Gao Heng had been arrested for inviting people to pray for China on 4th June, the anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre. Still in prison, he will be tried on 11 February on charges of "stirring up discord and causing trouble".