Another prominent Hong Kong pro-democracy activist has confirmed he has fled the city after failing to appear in court on Tuesday, blaming safety concerns following the introduction of the national security law.

Sunny Cheung was due to face court at the West Kowloon Magistrates' Courts with 25 other pro-democracy activists charged on suspicion of participating in an unauthorized assembly on June 4 this year — when the annual Tiananmen vigil was supposed to be held.

After his no-show in court, Cheung wrote on his Facebook page on Tuesday night that he had left Hong Kong. He made the decision to leave the city after being stalked, and his family members and partner being harassed multiple times in August. “I had to leave Hong Kong because of safety concerns, albeit unwillingly,” he said.

Cheung did not reveal his current location in his Facebook post.

Prosecutors cited immigration records on Tuesday that Cheung left Hong Kong on Aug. 14. Judge Peter Law adjourned the case to Oct. 15.

The 24-year-old is not the first prominent activist to flee Hong Kong following the introduction of the national security law. Former student leader and lawmaker Nathan Law — who was also supposed to appear in court on Tuesday to face charges — revealed on his Facebook page on July 2 that he had left the city. According to records submitted to the court, he has not been in the city since June 24.

Speculation among pro-Beijing media outlets has suggested that Cheung might have left the city last month. Beijing’s state-run mouthpiece Global Times reported his alleged escape on Aug. 17, and that he secretly fled to the U.K. on Aug. 14 and “is likely seeking refuge with Nathan Law to establish a Hong Kong parliament in exile.”

Cheung’s unexpected disappearance has alarmed Hong Kong demonstrators, with regard to the overarching national security law implemented by Beijing in the semi-autonomous city. His escape was a fresh reminder of the massive escape of Chinese dissidents overseas via the then British colony in the wake of the Tiananmen Square crackdown in 1989.

Cheung, who was vilified by Global Times as a “Hong Kong separatist,” rose to prominence during the mass anti-government protests which erupted last year. As a former spokesman of the Hong Kong Higher Institutions International Affairs Delegation, he lobbied several Western countries, including the U.S. and the U.K., to sanction those mainland Chinese and Hong Kong officials who allegedly encroached on the city’s freedoms and democratic rights.

Washington subsequently legislated the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act on Nov. 27 last year and imposed sanctions on 11 officials or former officials from Hong Kong and mainland China, including Chief Executive Carrie Lam on Aug. 7 this year.

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