90-Year-Old Cardinal Zen Arrested for NSL

Cardinal Zen was arrested and released on bail hours later

I woke up this morning to the terrible news that 90-year-old Cardinal Zen Ze-kiun was arrested by the national security police along with three others on the charge of colluding with foreign forces for operating the now defunct 612 Humanitarian Relief Fund.

They were trustees of the fund that was set up during the 2019 protests to give financial, legal and psychological aid to those who had been arrested, and or injured during clashes with the police. In July 2021 the fund had over HK$250 million in donations.

The fund had to be disbanded last October

A few hours later Zen was released on bail, along with lawyer Margaret Ng Ngoi-yee, Chinese-Canadian Canto-pop singer Denise Ho Wan-sze, and professor Hui Po-keung who had been arrested at the airport a day earlier. He was on his way to Germany to be a visiting scholar.

Another trustee is Cyd Ho Sau-lan who is already in jail for taking part in unauthorised assemblies.

Last September the police said the fund had violated the national security law and served a court order, requesting information on its operations and financial transactions. That would include bank details, donor and recipient information.

The fund's trustees had announced it would stop operating by October 31 last year, after directors of the fund's holding company -- The Alliance for True Democracy Limited -- said it would soon disband.

As a result people whose trials are still in the system (and there are many) may not have enough financial means to pay their defence lawyers.

The fund was made of donations

China legal expert Jerome Cohen says the arrests were calculated to take place after incoming Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu's position was secured.

"Cutting off legal defense funds is a logical step in the systematic attack on the criminal justice system that has been under way since imposition of the National Security regime on HK," he writes on Twitter.

"We should recall that measures have also been taken to curb the availability of Legal Aid assistance. How many highly-paid HK barristers will be courageous and concerned enough to offer their services on a 'pro bono' basis?"

Meanwhile Human Rights Watch's Maya Wang condemned the arrests, describing them as "shocking".

"Arresting a 90-year-old cardinal for his peaceful activities has to be a shocking new low for Hong Kong, illustrating the city's free fall in human rights in the past two years. Human Rights Watch calls on the Hong Kong government to immediately release the five and drop all charges against them. The arrests, which comes days after the Chinese government's anointment of former security chief John Lee as the city's chief executive, is an ominous sign that its crackdown on Hong Kong is only going to escalate." 

Cyd Ho currently in jail

These people arrested this morning are not young people who some from the older generation may consider naive or rebellious for throwing bricks and Molotov cocktails are police. These are people in their 40s to 90s who tried to help protestors get the legal, medical and mental health support they needed.

The Vatican's response: "The Holy See has learned with concern the news of Cardinal Zen's arrest and is following the evolution of the situation with extreme attention," said the director of the Holy See Press Office, Matteo Bruni.

Usually the Vatican is low-key with responses when it comes to anything related to Hong Kong and China, and perhaps Cardinal Zen is not surprised, after having warned the Pope many times about China's modus operandi.

While it is thankful all four (minus Cyd Ho) were released on bail, Hui Po-keung won't be able to go to Germany, and they will have to prepare for trial. 

How much longer can they avoid revealing the donors and beneficiaries of the fund?