Pro-democracy activists who were arrested last month for subversion under national security laws via unofficial primary polls in Hong Kong received calls on Friday to bring forward their visits to the police station to Sunday, more than a month earlier than scheduled.

Some of the activists indicated a sense of foreboding, that they might be formally charged and immediately taken into custody this weekend.

Apple Daily learned from one of them that “a police officer said there was a chance that some action would be taken.”

In early January, more than 50 people were apprehended and then released on bail in relation to organizing and taking part in an informal primary held last year to select candidates for a legislative election. Fifty-three of them were granted initial bail extensions this month that were supposed to last until April, except for Joshua Wong and Tam Tak-chi, who were already in custody prior to the January mass arrest operation.

A number of the activists said they received phone calls from the national security police on Friday morning, requesting them to report to the police station on Sunday with their bail documents. The sudden change was way ahead of their original appointments in April, which were meant for further bail extension procedures.

District councilors, including Clarisse Yeung of Wan Chai, Lester Shum of Tsuen Wan, Tat Cheng of Eastern District and Fergus Leung of Central and Western District, all received the police calls.

Yeung said that she was asked to report to the station at 2 p.m. on Sunday. The police force did not provide any reason or details on the change of schedule from the original date of April 8, she said.

Yeung declined to hazard a guess as to the force’s intention behind the abrupt notice, but was prepared for the worst, that her weekend trip to the police station might end in immediate detention.

Shum and Cheng both suggested that the national security police would lay charges against them on the spot. Leung predicted that he would be detained in custody at once and taken to court on Monday.

Andrew Wan, a former lawmaker from the Democratic Party, felt the police move was strange and unusual, and that it was possible for the force to re-arrest or officially prosecute them.

“Though the road ahead is unclear and our fates are uncertain … we have no right to fear or retreat,” Wan said, urging Hong Kong people to keep their faith and take care.

Other arrestees who received the police calls included Occupy Central co-founder Benny Tai, who had drawn up a “35-plus” strategy that formed the basis of the 2019 primary, as well as former lawmakers of the Democratic Party and Civic Party and Cyrus Lau from the Hong Kong Allied Health Professionals and Nurses Association, Stand News reported.

Click here for Chinese version

---------------------------------

Apple Daily’s all-new English Edition is now available on the mobile app: bit.ly/2yMMfQE

To download the latest version,

iOS: bit.ly/AD_iOS

Android: bit.ly/AD_android

Or search Appledaily in App Store or Google Play