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Image source,Reuters
Former Hong Kong Democratic Party Legislative Counsel Xu Zhifeng officially announced that he was in exile in Europe on Thursday (December 3). The authorities attacked his bank accounts with his family. The bank accounts of him and his family were frozen twice on Saturday and Monday respectively. During that period, it was briefly thawed. Xu Zhifeng said that he and his family had transferred some of their savings to a safe place.
Hong Kong police said the freezing of his account was suspected of crowdfunding HK $ 850,000 into his account, but Xu Zhifeng denied the allegation. In addition, the Hong Kong police accused him of collaborating with foreign forces to endanger national security. When Xu Zhifeng was in Denmark, he called on European countries to sanction people who violate Hong Kong’s human rights and provide a safe haven for Hong Kong protesters.
The analysis estimates that Xu Zhifeng declared exile after visiting abroad for official business reasons. When politicians request bail in the future, Hong Kong authorities will ask the court for more restrictions to avoid repeating the same mistakes and allow detainees to seize the opportunity to flee.
Money laundering through crowdfunding?
Xu Zhifeng originally faced nine charges in Hong Kong, related to protests against Hong Kong’s amendment to the Fugitive Criminals Ordinance and the conflict in the Hong Kong Legislative Council. At the time, none of the charges were related to the National Security Act. He was released on bail and the judge allowed him, who is also a district councilor, to leave the country for official reasons.
He traveled to Denmark on November 30 as a report to attend an event on climate change. He was originally scheduled to return to Hong Kong on December 4, but he met with several Danish MPs and politicians on this trip to discuss human rights issues in Hong Kong. On December 3, amid speculation, he announced that he was in exile and headed to the UK. The Hong Kong Security Bureau annulled him and sentenced him for leaving security and fleeing for fear of crime. According to reports in the Hong Kong media, the Hong Kong police are looking for him because he has not returned to Hong Kong and violated bail conditions.
Xu Zhifeng said that he would first settle his family and stay in the UK for the short term, and then consider whether there would be other places to stay. He said he would not apply for asylum and that he hoped to return to Hong Kong one day, but it is temporarily unknown that his Hong Kong passport will expire. What status to settle abroad.
He said on Saturday that his bank accounts and those of his family were frozen, involving three banks and five accounts, including his millions of Hong Kong dollars in savings. But the next day, Xu Zhifeng stated that his account had been thawed and that he transferred some of his savings to a safe place. However, on Monday, the Hong Kong media quoted the news again, saying that his and his accounts his family were frozen again.
Hong Kong Police Department of National Security Chief Superintendent Li Guihua said Xu Zhifeng suspected that Xu Zhifeng had misappropriated funds raised through online crowdfunding and deposited them into his account and other accounts. In the case, about HK $ 850,000 was frozen, which has nothing to do with Xu Zhifeng’s abandonment and escape in the future. The funds were frozen for the future. To use.
Xu Zhifeng had previously launched a crowdfunding campaign, hoping to raise enough funds for private prosecutions to go after the police officers who shot in Xiwanhe during the demonstration last year. The police charged him with a crime of “money laundering”.
The Hong Kong National Security Act was passed and public reactions were mixed
Li Guihua did not comment on why the account was unfrozen, only emphasizing that the police only asked the bank to handle the money involved.
However, Xu Zhifeng denied the allegations, saying that all relevant crowdfunding funds were deposited into the law firm’s account and had nothing to do with his personal and family accounts. The relevant law firm did not respond temporarily.
Hong Kong police previously stated that Xu Zhifeng was suspected of colluding with foreign forces to endanger national security. Li Guihua of the Hong Kong National Security Agency believes that Xu Zhifeng intends to seek foreign sanctions against Hong Kong. The prima facie evidence has shown that Xu Zhifeng has violated the Hong Kong National Security Law. When Xu Zhifeng attended events in Denmark and was interviewed by the media, he urged the European government to support Hong Kong protesters and punish people who violate Hong Kong’s human rights. This comment was considered a violation of the Hong Kong National Security Law. When he announced his exile, he stressed the need to “expand Hong Kong.” International front “.
Hong Kong Police Commissioner Tang Ping-keung criticized Xu Zhifeng for fleeing because he did not want to be responsible and used the persecution as a “beautiful excuse” to leave. He pointed out that those who fled should be ashamed of themselves, their families and the young people who have been incited to break the law. He said he will investigate whether the relevant person has committed further violations, such as whether he made false statements or whether crowdfunding is illegal.
Image source,Reuters
Xu Zhifeng (right) faced 9 charges and the court allowed him to leave the country.
Xu Zhifeng: The regime uses economic oppression as political revenge
Xu Zhifeng said that if the police accused him of a suspicious flow of money, he should reveal the details and explain the suspicious points, otherwise he would only crack down on dissidents. He said that private prosecutions initiated by crowdfunding have already begun. The police suddenly froze his account after he announced his exile. The time coincidence indicated that the police were in political retaliation, because they started crowdfunding against police officers. What he called a conflict of interest.
Xu Zhifeng also criticized that the police so far have not explained why their accounts have been frozen and thawed. They suspect that the police have been playing tricks and have given up the credibility of the entire banking system to repress exiled MPs.
Xu Zhifeng said that the banks involved include HSBC, Hang Seng Bank and Bank of China Hong Kong.
Hong Kong HSBC stated that it did not comment on individual cases, but was very disappointed that the relevant facts were distorted. He stressed that he would closely monitor negative market news and strengthen the review of relevant accounts in response to the situation, and stressed that banking operations must comply with local laws and regulations. Hong Kong Hang Seng Bank said it would not comment. Bank of China Hong Kong did not respond. Hong Kong Finance Secretary Chen Maobo said it is inappropriate to comment on individual cases. I think the supervisory authority will follow up and understand.
Xu Zhifeng questioned on the social networking site that HSBC had not explained any facts that were misrepresented. He claimed that when the account was frozen, the account balance was showing as zero and it was impossible to deposit, transfer or withdraw cash at the ATM. You have filed a complaint with HSBC.
He said the bank account was frozen. “It is obvious that the regime uses economic oppression as political revenge, and even sits down to repress my family members to persecute the voices of the opposition.” The confidence of Hong Kong’s banking and judicial system is selfish. “
“I think the incident is extremely serious. It reflects that, under the National Security Act, banks can freeze citizens’ assets due to political pressure at will. This seriously affects the credibility of Hong Kong’s banking and financial system and violates the Hong Kong Basic Law on Private Property of Citizens and Legal Entities. I call on local and international financial regulators in Hong Kong to carry out thorough investigations into the incident and severely punish law enforcement officials and bank managers who abuse their power “.
