Dozens of Hong Kong pro-democracy figures arrested in election crackdown

Former law professor Benny Tai sits in a car after being arrested by police in Hong Kong (Apple Daily/AP)

Police in Hong Kong have arrested 53 former lawmakers and pro-democracy activists for allegedly violating the new national security law by participating in unofficial election primaries for the territory’s legislature last year.

The mass arrests, including of former lawmakers, were the largest move against Hong Kong’s democracy movement since the law was imposed by Beijing last June to quell dissent in the semi-autonomous territory.