Several university student leaders have said they have received threats directed at themselves and their families from unknown people.
The incidents came after the arrest of Keith Fong, the leader of the Baptist University’s student union, for possession of offensive weapons last Tuesday. Officers saw him purchase ten laser pointers, but he was released unconditionally after being detained for 47 hours. He refused bail conditions offered by the police, but a house search of Fong’s home was conducted before his release.
At a press conference on Thursday, Leung Siu-yuk, external vice president of the Baptist University’s student union, said she received a Facebook message from an unknown person called “Luck Lee.”
The message said Leung should think before she does anything, or else the person will go to her home to talk to her family. The message included the address and names of her family members.
Leung said her family also found a poster near her home threatening to kill her.
“This is an organised threat against the student union to silence us,” she said. “I am afraid. But I know I have been doing what is right. I will not be silenced.”
Leung Yiu-ting, acting president of the Education University’s student union, said he saw a threatening poster – similar to the one targetting Leung – near his home on Thursday morning. The poster included his address.
He said his family members on Friday morning found there were several unknown men appearing near his home. Leung said the men had knocked on the door and asked if he was inside. Leung was away at that time and the men took no further action.
“Such action was clearly targeting people like us who are serving in university student unions,” he said.
Pang Ka-ho, a former external vice president of the University of Hong Kong student union, said he received threatening messages on Tuesday and Wednesday urging him to surrender himself to the police, or he and his family will be killed.
On Wednesday night, he too received a Facebook message from “Luck Lee” threatening to visit his family. The message also included his father’s name and his address.
A family member of his received a call on Thursday night threatening harm to the family member: “This is not about political views. This is about right and wrong, and our moral values,” Pang said.
Pang said he has reported the case to the police.
Leung Yiu-ting and Pang Ka-ho both said they had recently been followed by unknown people.
Fong, who was arrested over the possession of laser pointers, said two police criminal investigation department officers visited his father’s home on Thursday looking for a person surnamed Lee. However, no-one in the household is named “Lee.” Fong does not live with his father, but he was there at the time.
The officers, nevertheless, recorded the identity card details of him, his father and his family members. “We will not fear such political suppression or white terror,” he said.
Meanwhile, Fong said police searched his home when he was under arrest, and it was an unreasonable search. He said the search occurred only 30 minutes before he was released.
“I don’t understand why my home had to be searched when I would be unconditionally released,” he said. Fong said officers did not take anything from his home.
Hong Kong has been rocked by over two months of anti-government demonstrations and unrest, as protesters demand a full withdrawal of the ill-fated extradition law bill. Demonstrators are asking for a complete withdrawal of the city’s controversial extradition bill, as well as universal suffrage and an investigation into alleged police brutality.
