Joshua Wong, a figurehead of the region's pro-democracy movement, was taken into police custody Thursday for violating last year's law banning facial coverings during a rally in October.
Wong appeared at the police station for a regular visit mandated by his bail conditions and was arrested alongside pro-democracy figure Koo Sze-yiu.
"Today's arrest is a notorious abuse to the criminal justice system by placing charges ruled unconstitutional earlier. However, I choose not to surrender," Wong wrote in a Twitter statement.
Both men were charged for violating the anti-mask restrictions and participating in an unauthorized protest last fall before being released. The case will be heard before Hong Kong's Eastern Magistrates Court Sept. 30.
A law forbidding garments that conceal facial features was put into effect Oct. 5 as part of the rarely used colonial Emergency Regulations Ordinance. In November, the ban was found to be unconstitutional by Hong Kong's High Court.
If convicted, Wong and Koo face a five-year jail sentence for unauthorized assembly and a further one-year penalty for wearing a surgical mask.
Since protests in response to a controversial extradition law started on June 9, 2019, police have arrested more than ten thousand people on related charges including rioting, possession of deadly weapons and reckless driving.
A global outpouring of support followed news of the most recent arrests, termed "the latest example of political prosecution and 'lawfare' to silence dissent in Hong Kong" by British human rights activist Benedict Rogers.
On the whole, it has been a rough week for Wong. The young activist's appeal of his district council election disqualification was upheld by the courts on Wednesday, saying his candidacy broke electoral regulations preventing advocacy of self-determination.
However Wong has never explicitly campaigned in favor of independence. Instead, he favors a non-binding referendum for the Hong Kong public to vote on the city's place within China.
He has also been banned from running in the Legislative Council elections, which were postponed last month due to the pandemic and are expected to take place in September 2021
