<
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/mar/17/melbourne-residents-offered-200k-to-inform-on-australian-pro-democracy-activist-wanted-in-hong-kong-ntwnfb>
"A small number of Melbourne residents have received anonymous letters
purporting to offer a police bounty of $203,000 if they inform on Kevin Yam, an
Australian citizen and pro-democracy activist wanted for alleged national
security crimes in Hong Kong, linking him to two nearby locations.
A spokesperson for the foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, told
Guardian
Australia the letter was “deeply worrying” and that the matter would be raised
directly with officials from China and Hong Kong.
The anonymous letter – mailed from Hong Kong and delivered to some Melbourne
homes on Friday – contained a photograph of Yam with a headline alleging he was
a “wanted person”. It then detailed a range of alleged “national security
related offences” and offered HK$1m (A$203,000) from the Hong Kong police to
anyone who provided information on his whereabouts or took him to Hong Kong or
Australian police.
Yam is a lawyer who lived in Hong Kong for 20 years before returning to
Australia in 2022. He is one of eight overseas-based activists, the subject of
Hong Kong police arrest warrants, accused in July 2023 of breaching its
controversial national security law that grants authorities sweeping
extraterritorial powers to prosecute acts or comments made anywhere in the
world that it deems criminal.
Yam has criticised the crackdown on dissent and erosion of judicial
independence in the Chinese-controlled city and has been accused of encouraging
foreign governments to impose sanctions against members of the judiciary,
prosecutors and government officials.
It is not known who sent the letter but its language matches a public appeals
notice published on the Hong Kong police force’s official website. A UK phone
number included at the bottom of the letter has also been linked to the Hong
Kong police force, which was contacted for comment."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
