Police arrest two men accused of foreign collusion over links with protest fund

Hong Kong police yesterday detained two men on suspicion of violating the city’s national security law through links with a now-defunct fund that aimed to help people arrested in the pro-democracy protests in 2019.

The two men were suspected of conspiring to collude with the 612 Humanitarian Relief Fund to receive overseas donations and provide financial support to people who fled Hong Kong or organizations that called for sanctions against the city, police said in a statement. They did not identify the suspects or those alleged to have been aided by them.

Last year, the fund’s former trustees, including Roman Catholic Cardinal Joseph Zen and singer Denise Ho, were also arrested under the tough law. Zen’s arrest sent shockwaves through the Catholic community.

The ex-trustees have not yet been charged with national security-related crimes, but they were fined in a separate case in November for failing to register the fund, which ceased operation in 2021.

Police said the pair arrested yesterday were suspected of conspiracy to collude with foreign forces to endanger national security and inciting others to commit riots. Officers searched their homes and the residence of another suspect with court warrants, they said. Some computers and electronic communication devices were seized.

The operation was ongoing and police did not rule out further arrests, they added. MDT/AP