According to local media reports, Hong Kong national security police took Nathan Law’s parents and brother for questioning on Tuesday. This incident occurred one week after the police issued an arrest warrant and a bounty on Law’s head.
Unnamed sources cited by local media stated that Law’s relatives were taken from their homes in Hong Kong for questioning and later released.
Law is one of eight activists based overseas who received arrest warrants from the Hong Kong police last week. These warrants were issued in connection with alleged offenses under the national security law imposed by China in Hong Kong in 2020.
This marks the first instance of relatives of an activist being questioned following the issuance of arrest warrants and the offering of a bounty of HK$1 million ($128,000) for any information leading to arrests.
Hong Kong’s pro-Beijing leader, John Lee, recently stated that these eight activists should be treated like “street rats” and that people should either avoid them or report on them.
Law publicly cut ties with his family in Hong Kong in August 2020 and was granted political asylum in Britain two years ago.
Last week, the police arrested five former members of the disbanded political group Demosisto on allegations of running an online commercial platform that provided financial aid to Law, as reported by local media and sources. They were later granted bail, as confirmed by a source with direct knowledge of the matter.
Demosisto, founded by Law and other activists, disbanded following the enactment of the national security law.
While governments, including the United States, have criticized the security legislation as a tool of repression, Beijing maintains that it has restored stability to Hong Kong following prolonged pro-democracy demonstrations in 2019.
