Hong Kong singer Wong Yiu-ming was arrested by the Independent Commission Against Corruption in Hong Kong on the morning of August 2 on suspicion of contravening the Elections (Fraud and Illegal Acts) Ordinance, according to Sing Tao.
The Independent Commission Against Corruption subsequently issued a press release, saying that on the 2nd, it sued Wong Yiu-ming and former Legislative Council member Au Nok-hin, accusing them of allegedly committing fraudulent acts in the 2018 Legislative Council by-election, providing entertainment to others to induce others to vote for the candidate.
Wong Yiu Ming's staff confirmed that the former was arrested early this morning and has now been released on bail.
Huang Yaoming (left), Au Nuoxuan Source: Sing Tao Daily
The ICAC had earlier received a complaint that someone was suspected of contravening the Elections (Fraud and Unlawful Conduct) Ordinance and immediately launched an investigation, and after seeking legal advice from the Department of Justice, it sued Nok Hin Au (aged 34) and singer Wong Yiu-ming (aged 59) for the 2018 Legislative Council by-election for the Hong Kong Island Local Constituency.
Au Nok Xuan and Wong Yiu Ming were charged with a fraud in providing entertainment to others during an election in violation of section 12(1)(a) of the Elections (Fraud and Unlawful Acts) Ordinance. The duo will respond at the Eastern Magistrates' Court on Thursday (5 August).
The charges allege that Au Nok-hin and Wong Yiu-ming were suspected of committing fraud in the 2018 Legislative Council by-election in the Hong Kong Island Local Constituency on 3 March 2018, i.e. by providing entertainment to another person to induce the other party to vote for Au Nok-hsien in that election, and the entertainment was a singing performance.
The 2018 Legislative Council by-election for the Hong Kong Island Local Constituency was held on 11 March of that year, and Au was one of four candidates and was elected in this election.
The INDEPENDENTCAC pointed out that since the end of February 2018, Au Nok Xuan has posted a number of posts on his social platform page announcing that he will hold a two-hour rally at Edinburgh Square in Central on the evening of 3 March 2018. Hours before the rally, Au posted another post on his social platform page announcing that Wong would perform at the rally.
During the rally, Wong Yiu-ming sang two songs on stage. At the end of the performance, he appealed to those present at the rally to vote for Au Nok Xuan in the above-mentioned election.
The INDEPENDENTCAC investigation found that au's social platform page shared a short video of the rally on 4 March 2018, including Wong Yiu-ming's performance and his appeal to those present at the rally. Au Nok Xuan declared the video clip and the post announcing wong's performance at the rally as an election advertisement.
The Independent Commission Against Corruption pointed out that section 12 of the Elections (Fraud and Unlawful Conduct) Ordinance provides that any person who provides food, drink or entertainment to another person, or reimburses all or part of the costs of providing such food, drink or entertainment, in order to induce that other person or a third party to vote in an election or not to vote for a candidate or certain candidates, is a fraudulent act.
A spokesman for the Independent Commission Against Corruption stressed that providing refreshments and entertainment to others during elections was a serious offence. Candidates, electoral agents/co-opteers and the public are reminded not to offer food, drink or entertainment in exchange for votes during elections.
Wong Yiu-ming is a member of the Hong Kong pop music group "Tammy Faction", and in recent years, he has frequently set foot in hong Kong chaos activities, participated in the "anti-national education" demonstration in 2012, and in 2014, he expressed solidarity with "Illegal Occupy Central" and participated in singing related songs. In 2019, Wong Yiu-ming repeatedly attended the "anti-amendment" demonstrations.
As for Au Nok-hin, who put Wong On the podium, he was elected in the March 2018 Hong Kong Legislative Council by-election to replace Law Guan-chung, who was disqualified as a member of parliament due to the swearing-in storm in the Legislative Council. In September 2019, Au was ruled "not properly elected" and lost his membership in the Legislative Council in December of the same year.
During the "legislative amendment storm" in Hong Kong, Au Nuoxuan used his status as a member of parliament to interfere with the duties of frontline police officers, charged with two counts of assault on the police, and sentenced to nine weeks in prison in March 2021. Au was also sentenced to 10 months in prison in April this year for his participation in an unlawful assembly on August 18, 2019. He had previously appealed his sentence and applied to the Hong Kong High Court on 28 July for bail during appeal, but was denied bail by a Judge of the Court of Appeal.
In addition, Au Nuoxuan, Tai Yaoting, Joshua Wong, Yang Yueqiao and 47 others were also charged with "conspiracy to subvert state power" for participating in the so-called "35+ primary election" of the opposition.
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