The Hong Kong Police have arrested pro-democracy activists Joshua Wong, Agnes Chow, and Andy Chan on suspicion of organising “illegal protests”, Reuters reported on Friday.

The police said Wong and Chow, both 22 years old, were arrested on Friday for “organising unauthorised assembly” and “knowingly participating in unauthorised assembly”. This came a day after Chan, who founded the Hong Kong National Party last year, was arrested from the international airport for allegedly participating in riots and “attacking police” during a protest on July 13.

Wong was walking to the South Horizons MTR station when “he was forcefully pushed into a private minivan on the street,” his political party Demosisto, which advocates for greater democracy, tweeted. “He has now been escorted to the police headquarters in Wan Chai.”

Demosisto said its lawyers were working on the case. The party also confirmed that Chow was arrested, and demanded the immediate release of the two activists.

The arrests came after the police banned a massive rally by a civil rights group on Saturday, AFP reported. The rally was to coincide with the fifth anniversary of China’s rejection of the right to universal suffrage in Hong Kong. The rejection had led to the 79-day Umbrella Movement in 2014.

Wong and Chow were charged in court on Friday afternoon, and face a maximum of five years in prison if found guilty. Demosisto, condemning the arrests, said: “It will only make the government misjudge the public, leading to a deadly situation that is more difficult to resolve.”

On Sunday, the Hong Kong Police had said it had arrested 29 people after overnight demonstrations against the Chinese government. The protestors were detained for allegedly possessing “offensive weapons”, assaulting police officers and unlawful assembly.

However, the protests continued that day. “Reclaim Hong Kong, revolution of our era!” the protestors chanted. More than 100 protestors faced off against a dozen riot police personnel on Sunday afternoon.

The protests

At least 850 people have been arrested since the protests began in June. The protests were initially organised to oppose a bill that would have allowed extraditions to China. They have now evolved into a backlash against the city’s government and its political masters in Beijing.

The government has refused to accept any of the protestors’ main demands, which include a complete withdrawal of the extradition bill besides an independent inquiry into the use of excessive police force against the demonstrators. They are also demanding the resignation of the city’s leader Carrie Lam.

Earlier this month, Beijing had claimed that criminals and agitators were stirring violence, encouraged by foreign powers such as Britain and the United States.

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