Hong Kong democracy activist Joshua Wong has been arrested ahead of a weekend of planned protests in the Chinese-ruled city that is grappling with its biggest political crisis since its handover to Beijing more than two decades ago.
Wong, the face of Hong Kong’s push for full democracy during protests in 2014 that paralysed parts of the city for 79 days, was released from jail in June after serving a five-week term for contempt of court.
“He was suddenly pushed into a private car on the street,” Wong’s political party Demosisto, which advocates for greater democracy in Hong Kong, said on its official Twitter account.
“He has now been escorted to the police headquarters in Wan Chai,” it said. Demosisto’s lawyers were working on the case, it said.
Demosisto party member Agnes Chow was also arrested, the group said, although it was not clear what charges she faced.
Andy Chan, a founder of the pro-independence Hong Kong National Party that was banned last September, said on his Facebook page late on Thursday he had been detained at Hong Kong’s international airport and that he had been told he was about to be arrested.