⁍ Hong Kong police arrested prominent democracy activist Joshua Wong on Thursday for participating in an unauthorised assembly in October 2019.

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⁍ Wong’s latest arrest adds to several unlawful assembly charges or suspected offences he and other activists are facing related to last year’s pro-democracy protests.

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⁍ Wong disbanded his pro-democracy group Demosisto in June, just hours after China’s parliament passed national security law for Hong Kong.

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– Hong Kong police arrested young activist Joshua Wong on Thursday for participating in an unauthorized assembly in October 2019, reports Reuters. The 23-year-old was charged with violating Hong Kong’s anti-mask law, which requires people to wear face masks in certain circumstances, per the South China Morning Post. The two men he was with, ages 23 and 74, were also charged with unlawful assembly. Wong became a symbol of last year’s pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong when police used tear gas and rubber bullets to try to disperse thousands of protesters. He and other activists called for full democracy in the former British colony. Wong disbanded his pro-democracy group Demosisto in June after China’s parliament passed a national security law for Hong Kong, bypassing the city’s local legislature, a move widely criticized by Western governments. His long-time colleague, Agnes Chow, and two other activists were also among 10 people police arrested in August on suspicion of violating the new law. The new law punishes anything China considers as subversion, secession, terrorism, and collusion with foreign forces, with up to life in prison. Wong was just 17 when he became the face of the 2014 student-led Umbrella Movement democracy protests, but he was not a leading figure of the often violent unrest that shook the semi-autonomous former British colony last year. An anti-mask law was introduced last year in a bid to help police identify the protesters they suspected of committing crimes and it is facing a challenge in court.