"Civil Human Rights Front, the organizer of the annual July 1 rally, said five members—three women and two men—from the group were arrested for obstruction of police duties. The arrest came two days after protesters sharply criticized China and demanded democratic elections in Hong Kong.
"We followed all the legal procedure in organizing this rally, said Civil Human Rights Front vice convener Icarus Wong. He added: "Our rally was very peaceful, and I don't see any legitimate reason to arrest our members except a political suppression."
Police have arrested rally organizers in the past, including three of the people arrested on Friday. Those arrested are expected to face minor charges.
The city's police didn't immediate comment on the Friday arrests. Early Wednesday, they arrested 511 protesters who stayed overnight in Hong Kong's main business district after the rally. All were released by Wednesday evening without being charged.
The July 1 protests center on whether Hong Kong voters will be given a mechanism for nominating candidates for chief executive, the city's top post, in the 2017 elections. While the government has committed to realizing what it calls universal suffrage in chief executive elections by then, it is unclear whether that reform will include a democratic nominating process.
The annual march came days after nearly 800,000 people—or more than 10% of Hong Kong's 7.2 million population—had taken part in an unofficial referendum, whose results showed that Hong Kong people want more say in picking their chief executive, free from Beijing's influence. Chinese state media and government officials said the poll was illegal. Beijing also issued a white paper in early June, stressing the city only has "the power to run local affairs as authorized by the central leadership", spurring fierce opposition in the former British colony".
