Thread by @WilliamYang120

Hong Kong police confirmed that they arrested three men and one woman between the age of 16 and 21 earlier tonight for inciting secession and sedition, and one of them is Tony Chung, the former convener of student localism.

When asked by journalist whether the “crime” happened before or after the #NSL came into effect, the police said that the national security team was founded recently and the #NSL is not retroactive so it will only trace crimes happened after July 1st.

The police emphasized that if someone commit any act of inciting secession online, the national security team will immediately deploy officers to arrest the suspects.

Police emphasized that the group of four incite and organize ideologies related to “#HongKong Independence,” so the National security officers were deployed to arrest them.

Hong Kong police also emphasized that if their criminal acts were serious, the national security agency could consider collecting DNA samples from the suspects. The evidence in this case include phones, computers and other documents.

The police reiterated that they won’t target specific groups, but they will target specific acts. Inciting #HongKong independence violated article 21 of the #NSL, but the police refused to acknowledge whether they will stalk suspects or not.

The police emphasized that if any individual try to incite #HongKong independence abroad, the national security officers also have the jurisdiction to go after them.

The organization at the center of this case is called “Initiative Independence Party” and it has one post on its Instagram published on July 21. The organization is founded by former members of Studentlocalism who have completed their studies and are abroad.

The four individuals arrested tonight are all related to Studentlocalism.