PROTESTERS RESUME STIR OVER HONG KONG MASK BAN
HONG KONG: Hong Kong police took to the streets on Monday night in a show of force in a district hit by some of the most violent clashes with protesters in recent months, but withdrew without major confrontations after being jeered by onlookers.
“The police are ridiculous, they are out of control,” said James, 22, who watched police on Monday night. “We are sticking to our beliefs and trying to express our voices to the government, but they use force to try to make us afraid and try to make us stay at home.”
Police arrived at several locations in the Mong Kok district in vans and marched down the street, some beating their shields, but were easily outnumbered by media and onlookers and later withdrew to cheers.
Police fired tear gas and used pepper spray on people in some locations and detained a handful of people in a district across the harbour from the financial centre that has been a focal point of past demonstrations.
Earlier in the day, two protesters were charged with violating Hong Kong’s new ban on wearing masks at rallies, a move likely to add to a backlash that has thrown the semi-autonomous Chinese territory into deeper crisis.
An 18-year-old student and a 38-year-old woman were the first to be prosecuted under the ban, which came into force on Saturday under sweeping emergency powers aimed at quashing violence in the protests for more democratic freedoms.
Detained on Saturday after a face mask ban took effect, the two were charged with taking part in an unlawful assembly.
A conviction under the mask ban is punishable by up to a year in prison and a fine. Later, they were both released on bail pending trial.