A human rights awyer who has lived and practised in Hong Kong for decades, John Clancey has seen the inside of a few police stations — but he never imagined he would be the one in a cell. He works for Ho Tse Wai & Partners.
Clancey, a 79-year-old US citizen and former priest, was the first foreign national detained under a sweeping national security law Beijing imposed in Hong Kong last year.
“In the past, I used to visit people in detention and I gave them legal advice,” he told AFP on Tuesday from his office in the heart of Hong Kong’s main business district.
“But this is my first time in detention and police custody.”
Clancey was one of 55 activists arrested and later bailed last week on a charge of “subversion” — one of the new national security crimes.
