Tony Chung: Hong Kong orders activist back to prison after breaching supervision order and fleeing to UK for asylum
Hong Kong Free Press
Hong Kong authorities have condemned independence activist Tony Chung for “telling a lie” and breaching a post-prison supervision order, after he said he had left the city to seek asylum abroad.
The comments came hours after the 22-year-old, who finished his jail term in June over a national security offence but was subject to supervision rules, said on social media that he had flown to the UK and would not be returning to Hong Kong.
“[Chung] openly breached the supervision order… I call on him to mend his ways, take responsibility for his actions and take responsibility as soon as possible,” Leung Kin-ip, the Deputy Commissioner of Correctional Services (Rehabilitation and Management), said in Cantonese at a press conference on Friday.
Authorities have issued a recall order for Chung to return to prison, Leung said, adding that the Correctional Services Department (CSD) was working with other law enforcement agencies to issue an arrest warrant.
Chung – the ex-convener of now-disbanded pro-independence group Studentlocalism – was arrested under the national security law in late July 2020, around a month after Beijing imposed the legislation on Hong Kong.
He was sentenced to three years and seven months in jail after pleading guilty to inciting secession and money laundering. His was the first arrest under the controversial legislation.
In a lengthy social media post on Thursday, Chung said that – as he was sentenced before turning 21 – he was placed under a supervision order for one year and told not to leave Hong Kong. He said he “persuaded” the CSD to allow him to travel to Okinawa, Japan, for Christmas after submitting flight and accommodation details to them.
Once in Japan, he then booked a flight for the UK and arrived on Wednesday.
See also: Tony Chung – the first political figure arrested under Hong Kong’s security law
Leung told reporters on Friday that Chung was not barred from leaving Hong Kong, only that he had to inform supervision officers where he was going and what dates he would be away.
He added that Chung told supervision officers on December 14 that he would be in Japan from December 20 to 25. On Christmas Day, Chung called the supervision officers and said he could not catch his flight back and would need to change his itinerary to return on Thursday.
On Thursday night, supervision officers attempted to contact Chung but could not reach him.
“Today, they found out through social media and news outlets that he had fled to the UK to seek political asylum,” Leung said.
In a response to a reporter’s question, the corrections official said the department hoped to help supervisees integrate into society and assist them with their problems.
“He completely breached our trust and told a lie, saying he was going on holiday,” Leung said.
‘Rehabilitation needs’
In his social media post on Thursday, Chung said he was forced to meet with national security police every two to four weeks after his release from prison. During their meetings, he was asked about who he met recently and what they discussed.
Chung also said he believed that national security police used his poor financial situation to attempt to extract information from him. While he got a job after finishing his jail term, the CSD told him he was not allowed to work in “specific businesses,” so he was left without an income. National security police also forced him to disclose his bank account information, Chung said.
He claimed that police offered him informant fees and urged him to “supply information about others as proof of my reformation and willingness to cooperate.”
During the Friday press conference, Leung told reporters that supervisees should take up jobs that the department “recognise” and that are in accordance with their “rehabilitation needs.” If jobs were “high risk,” it is “not suggested” that they work there, he said. Leung added that the department reached out to organisations to offer him part-time work, which he did take up.
He did not comment when a reporter asked if it was true that national security police offered financial incentives to Chung in exchange for information.
Chung is the latest known pro-democracy figure to leave Hong Kong. Agnes Chow, a former student leader from the now-disbanded group Demosisto, announced earlier in December that she had moved to Canada and would not return to Hong Kong to meet her bail conditions. Chow was arrested under the national security law in December 2020, and while she was not charged, was required to report to the police regularly.
Police said they may issue an arrest warrant if she skips the coming meeting.
Scores of activists have left the city since the security law was enacted following protests and unrest in 2019. The law criminalises secession, subversion, foreign collusion and terrorism, and offenders face up to life imprisonment.
Since then, dozens of civil society groups have disbanded and independent newsrooms have shut down. The authorities, however, maintain that the security law has restored stability and prosperity to Hong Kong.
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