
RELEASE AND DROP ALL CHARGES AGAINST PRO-DEMOCRACY ACTIVISTS IN HONG KONG!
1 March 2021
The International Trade Union
Confederation – Asia Pacific (ITUC-AP) strongly condemns the unjust imposition
of charges by the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) police
against 47 former opposition lawmakers and pro-democracy activists, including
Carol Ng, the Chairperson of Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions (HKCTU),
and Winnie Yu, Chair of the Hospital Authority Employees Alliance (HAEA) under
the People’s Republic of China’s National Security Law in Hong Kong.
Carol Ng and Winnie Yu are
officially charged with subversion of state power for their participation in
the primaries of the democrats to stand in the election of the Legislative
Council cancelled last September. The case will be mentioned in the West
Kowloon Magistrates Court today, 1 March 2021. If convicted, Carol Ng, Winnie
Yu and other pro-democracy activists could be sentenced with life imprisonment.
Fifty-five pro-democracy
activists were arrested on 6 January for allegedly subverting state power and
47 of them were proceeded for prosecution yesterday.
Shoya Yoshida, the General
Secretary of ITUC-AP, denounces this latest repressive act of the HKSAR
government to silence pro-democracy voices. He said, “The sweeping Hong Kong
National Security Law is clearly being used to curtail the rights and freedoms
of the people of Hong Kong."
The ITUC-AP urges the HKSAR government
to respect and uphold the legally guaranteed rights and freedoms of Hong Kong
citizens without fear of arrest and detention. We also demand the HKSAR government
to drop all the charges against the pro-democracy activists and to release them
immediately.
Representing more than 60
million workers in the Asian and Pacific region, the ITUC-AP stands firmly with
the people of Hong Kong and staunchly supports Carol Ng, Winnie Yu, and the
other pro-democracy activists in defending their democracy and legitimately exercising
their human rights.