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Pro-independence lawmakers Baggio Leung (L) and Yau Wai-ching (R) speak to the press outside the High Court in Hong Kong on November 30, 2016. Leung and Yau lost their appeal on November 30 against a ban preventing them from taking up their seats in parliament as Beijing faces accusations of stepping up interference in the city's politics.

Nine more people were arrested on Thursday and charged with participating in unlawful assembly, obstructing police, and inciting disorderly conduct in a public place for their participation in a November protest. Among them were chairman of the League of Social Democrats Avery Ng Man-yuen as well as Derek Lam Shun-hin and Ivan Lam Long-yin from the Demosisto Party.

All eleven have been released on bail, but they face prosecution and possible prison sentences, according to Human Rights Watch.

"The repeated use of vague charges reeks of an orchestrated and retaliatory campaign by the authorities to punish those that advocate for democracy," said Mabel Au, director of Amnesty International Hong Kong.

"The government should be protecting freedom of expression and peaceful assembly but instead it appears intent on intimidating people who are challenging the authorities."

As many as 11,000 demonstrators took to the streets in November after China banned Leung and Yao from LegCo in a judicial review that was Beijing's most significant form of legal intervention since Hong Kong's sovereignty was transferred from the U.K. to the mainland in 1997.

Link:
Hong Kong gets slammed after arresting pro-democracy activists - CNBC