HONG KONG - The Hong Kong police on Sunday afternoon laid a charge against 47 activists who were arrested in January with one count of "conspiracy to commit subversion".
In a statement issued on Sunday afternoon, the police said the persons charged included 39 men and 8 women aged 23 to 64.
In a statement issued on Sunday afternoon, the police said the persons charged included 39 men and 8 women aged 23 to 64
All of them are being detained and the case will be mentioned at the West Kowloon Magistrates' Courts after 11 am on Monday, it added.
Those charged on Sunday include veteran activist Leung Kwok Hung, former lawmaker Alvin Yeung, and the ex-convener of Civil Human Rights Front, Jimmy Sham, according to their respective Facebook pages.
They were allegedly involved in an independently organized ballot organized by the opposition camp ahead of the now-shelved legislative election last year.
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Dubbed “35-plus primaries”, the political maneuver was designed to pick opposition candidates for the Legislative Council election originally scheduled on Sept 6, 2020 until it was postponed by the government to Sept 5, 2021, over COVID-19 concerns.
Opposition figures had hoped to access a provision in Hong Kong's charter to force Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor to resign by voting down her budget.
Days after the informal ballot, Lam warned that any planned action to paralyze the government's administration was potentially subversive and a violation of the National Security Law.
READ MORE: Justice secretary: Hong Kong's law and order restored
With Bloomberg inputs
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