District councilors Eason Chan and Issac Lee, former candidate Arthur Yeung are among the eight people arrested by the police’s national security unit on Monday morning in relation to a protest on the campus of the Chinese University of Hong Kong on graduation day last month.

In a press briefing on Monday afternoon, senior superintendent Steve Li confirmed that eight men, including district councilors, students and social workers between the age of 16 to 34, were arrested for participating in an unauthorized assembly. Three of them were also accused of inciting secession. “During the rally, some waved pro-independence flags and chanted relevant slogans,” said Li, adding that the investigation will continue.

Eason Chan, district councilor of Kwun Tong and a fresh graduate from CUHK, was taken to the Kwun Tong police station. Issac Lee, who represents the Sai Kung district, was taken from his home at 6 a.m. on Monday, according to his Facebook page.

Arthur Yeung, a CUHK alumni and a research assistant at the university’s Centre of Urban Sustainability, was arrested at his home at 7 a.m. and his flat was being searched, said a Facebook post on his page. Officers, which stayed for more than half an hour, also confiscated name cards, staff cards, clothes and his electronic devices, including his computer and phone.

A member of the community group Kickstart Wan Chai, Yeung lost to pro-Beijing candidate Paul Tse by 234 votes in the local elections last November.

Clarisse Yeung, also a member of Kickstart Wan Chai, wrote on her Facebook page that Arthur Yeung is being accused of unlawful assembly, even though the arrest was conducted by the national security police unit. The fresh graduate was detained at Ma On Shan police station, before being moved to Tai Po due to technical problems in the station’s recording devices, according to Clarisse Yeung.

CUHK reported to the police on Nov. 19 after dozens of students held a peaceful assembly on campus, shouting protest slogans and waving banners. The national security unit held an investigation and collected CCTV footage from the campus, on the grounds that pro-independence flags were displayed, potentially violating the national security law.

According to lawyers, police will also be monitoring the people waiting outside the police stations where the detainees are held and issue fines to gatherings of more than two.

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