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Hong Kong tycoon Jimmy Lai arrested for 'taking part in pro-democracy march'

Jimmy Lai is charged with illegal assembly over the demonstration last August and faces up to five years in prison if convicted.

Friday 28 February 2020 15:51, UK

Hong Kong media tycoon and founder of Apple Daily newspaper Jimmy Lai (C) leaves the Kowloon City police station in Hong Kong on February 28, 2020, after being arrested on the suspicion of taking part in an unauthorised assembly on August 31 last year. - Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai, a high profile critic of Beijing, was arrested on February 28 for taking part in last year's pro-democracy protests that rocked the city for seven months. (Photo by ISAAC LAWRENCE / AFP) (Photo by ISAAC LAWRENCE/AFP via Getty Images)
Image: Jimmy Lai leaves a police station on Friday after being questioned
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One of Hong Kong's most high-profile entrepreneurs has been arrested after allegedly taking part in a pro-democracy march.

Media tycoon Jimmy Lai has been charged with illegal assembly following the demonstration last August and faces up to five years in prison if convicted.

The vice chairman of Hong Kong's Labour Party, Lee Cheuk-yan, and former pro-democracy politician Yeung Sum have also been charged with the same offence.

HONG KONG, CHINA - AUGUST 31: The media tycoon Jimmy Lai, attends a pro-democracy protesters march in Admiralty on August 31, 2019 in Hong Kong, China. Pro-democracy protesters have continued demonstrations across Hong Kong since 9 June against a controversial bill which allows extraditions to mainland China as the ongoing protests surpassed the Umbrella Movement five years ago, becoming the biggest political crisis since Britain handed its onetime colony back to China in 1997. Hong Kong's embattled leader Carrie Lam apologized for introducing the bill and declared it "dead", however the campaign continues to draw large crowds to voice their discontent while many end up in violent clashes with the police as protesters show no signs of stopping. (Photo by Billy H.C. Kwok/Getty Images)
Image: Mr Lai was pictured during the pro-democracy march on 31 August

Amnesty International called the arrests a "shameless attempt to harass and silence those in Hong Kong's pro-democracy movement".

After being questioned by police, Mr Lai told reporters: "Well, the Hong Kong situation is getting tense here, but we have to go on, we have to go on."

The three men are due to appear in court on 5 May.

Mr Lai is an entrepreneur and long-time activist who sold his clothing chain under political pressure and has since focused on media in Hong Kong and Taiwan.

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Tycoon and Apple Daily Newspaper owner Jimmy Lai shouts slogan before he is taken away by police officer at an area previously blocked by pro-democracy supporters, outside the government headquarters in Hong Kong, December 11, 2014. Hong Kong authorities started on Thursday clearing the main pro-democracy protest site that has choked roads into the city's most economically and politically important district for more than two months as part of a campaign to demand free elections. REUTERS/Athit Perawongmetha (CHINA - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST BUSINESS)
Image: Mr Lai, pictured in 2014, is a long-time activist

Months of demonstrations calling for reforms in Hong Kong crippled its economy and put its leaders and police force under unprecedented pressure.

The march on 31 August was timed to mark the fifth anniversary of a decision by China against fully democratic elections in the former British colony.

HONG KONG, CHINA - AUGUST 31: Protesters throw tear gas canisters back at police during an anti-government rally outside of Central Government Complex on August 31, 2019 in Hong Kong, China. Pro-democracy protesters have continued rallies on the streets of Hong Kong against a controversial extradition bill since 9 June as the city plunged into crisis after waves of demonstrations and several violent clashes. Hong Kong's Chief Executive Carrie Lam apologized for introducing the bill and declared it "dead", however protesters have continued to draw large crowds with demands for Lam's resignation and completely withdraw the bill. (Photo by Anthony Kwan/Getty Images)
Image: The protests turned violent on 31 August

Organisers called off the march after it was banned by police but hundreds of thousands of people defied the order and filled the streets in several areas of the Asian financial hub.

Protesters threw petrol bombs at government headquarters and set fires in the streets, while police stormed an underground train and hit passengers with batons and pepper spray.

TOPSHOT - Police run past debris set alight by protesters in the Causeway Bay area of Hong Kong on August 31, 2019, as people demonstrate, defying a ban on rallying -- and mounting threats from China -- to take to the streets for a 13th straight weekend. (Photo by Anthony WALLACE / AFP) (Photo credit should read ANTHONY WALLACE/AFP via Getty Images)
Image: Police in riot gear in Hong Kong during protests on 31 August

Police arrested thousands during the protest movement that began last June but later fizzled out towards the end of the year amid harsher tactics by authorities.

Prison sentences have been threatened against many protesters on charges including rioting and possessing offensive weapons.

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Hotspots: On the front line with Hong Kong protesters

The demonstrations initially protested against proposed legislation which would have allowed Hong Kong residents to be sent to mainland China to stand trial, but later included demands for democratic elections and an investigation into police use of force.

Many fear Beijing is steadily eroding the legal guarantees and freedoms Hong Kong was promised after it was handed over from British to Chinese rule in 1997.

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