Hong Kong’s national security police released Cardinal Joseph Zen Zekiun, retired archbishop of Hong Kong, May 11 after detaining him for allegedly colluding with foreign forces.
The cardinal, 90, has been a very public supporter of pro-democracy and independence protests that have roiled the city for much of the past decade and came to a head in 2019 with unprecedented street marches and six months of spasmodic street battles with authorities. He was detained along with along with former opposition lawmaker Margaret Ng Ngoiyee and singer Denise Ho Wansze.
The independent Hong Kong Free Press tweeted a photo of a masked Cardinal Zen and said: “Cardinal Joseph Zen was released on bail from Chai Wan Police Station at around 11 p.m. on Wednesday. He did not speak. He then entered a private car parked outside the police station. The 90-year-old was accompanied by five people when he left the police station.”
The cardinal, Ng and Ho were among five trustees of the 612 Humanitarian Relief Fund, which was set up to offer financial assistance to those involved in anti-government protests in 2019 and which came under scrutiny of authorities over the past year.
A fourth trustee, former adjunct associate professor Hui Po Keung, was arrested by national security police May 10 as he was about to catch a flight to Germany, a source said. The South China Morning Post reported May 11 that Hui had been put on the list of people who would be stopped by law enforcers if they tried to leave the city via the airport or other control points.