Hong Kong man arrested after passer-by calls police over protest banner hanging on drying rack

A 40-year-old man has been arrested in Hong Kong after a pedestrian called police about a banner carrying a protest slogan deemed problematic by the authorities under the national security law.

Police were alerted at about 2pm on Monday (June 21) by the passer-by who complained that a banner with the slogan Liberate Hong Kong; revolution of our times was hanging on a drying rack outside a flat on Fife Street in Mong Kok.

About 20 officers were reportedly seen arriving at the tenement building at about 5pm, and removed the 125cm by 80cm (49 inch by 31 inch) black banner.

They also arrested the man in the flat for uttering seditious words.

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Uniformed officers stood guard at the entrance of the building and residents had to be escorted to their homes. Plain-clothes officers were seen filming in the area.

The slogan, which was popular during the 2019 social unrest, was regarded a breach of the national security law, as the government said it connoted “Hong Kong independence” or subverting state power.

This article was first published in South China Morning Post.