Hong Kong police announced on Wednesday their first arrest under the new security law as officers used pepper spray to break up a rally by pro-democracy protesters elsewhere in the city, images from the scene show.
Why it matters: The law, passed by Chinese lawmakers Tuesday, is a further encroachment on Hong Kong's independent legal system and the autonomy the territory had retained since the former British colony was returned to China in 1997.
Per Axios' Bethany Allen-Ebrahimian and Dave Lawler, the law "defines crimes such as terrorism and sedition broadly, but mandates harsh sentences — in many cases life imprisonment."
- It'll be enforced without input from the judiciary.
#BREAKING: A man was arrested for holding a #HKIndependence flag in #CausewayBay, Hong Kong, violating the #NationalSecurityLaw. This is the first arrest made since the law has come into force. pic.twitter.com/C0ezm3SGDm
— Hong Kong Police Force (@hkpoliceforce) July 1, 2020
