Hong Kong authorities raid Tiananmen Massacre Museum

Hong Kong national security police on Thursday raided the Tiananmen Massacre Museum, as a part of a major crackdown against dissent and pro-democracy civil society groups.

The July 4th Museum, commemorating the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989, was closed down in early June, just three days after it was reopened with a new exhibition.

Organizers then had said that the museum was shut down "to ensure the safety of staff and visitors," the Hong Kong Free Press reported.

On Wednesday, police arrested the Alliance's leaders after they refused to hand over information as part of a national security probe.

According to Hong Kong Free Press, the arrests came the morning after they publicly refused a police demand for information as part of a national security probe into the 32-year-old group.

A Security Bureau spokesperson said any law enforcement operations were "based on evidence" and "strictly according to the law."

Senior Superintendent Steve Li was present during Thursday's raid, as officers took away boxes of material, according to Citizen News.

The raid comes after a dozen pro-democracy activists pleaded guilty of knowingly participating in an unauthorised assembly during last year's June 4 anniversary, when rallies were banned by police, citing the coronavirus.

Pro-democracy activists in Hong Kong used to organize an annual vigil to commemorate victims of student protests that broke out in Beijing on April 15, 1989, and culminated on June 4 of that year in violent clashes which claimed over 200 lives.

In June 2020, the police banned the vigil for the first time in thirty years in view of protests in Hong Kong over Beijing's plans to adopt new security legislation, while officially citing the need to comply with coronavirus-related restrictions.

China, with the help of local authorities, has been ruling Hong Kong with an iron fist. Authorities have also begun clamping down on pro-democracy activists. As China has strengthened control over Hong Kong through varieties of laws including the draconian National Security Law, the people of the semi-autonomous city are facing increasing policing and crackdown.

( With inputs from ANI )