Police crack down on pro-democracy rally as 230 protesters arrested
Hong Kong unrest: 18 hospitalised as journalists targeted by officers
THE Hong Kong authorities yesterday confirmed that 230 people were arrested over the weekend in the biggest police crackdown on pro-democracy protests since mid-January, when the city was first struck by coronavirus.
Hundreds of riot officers were deployed to disperse protesters as they gathered for sing-along demonstrations in the city’s shopping malls, calling for the resignation of Carrie Lam, Hong Kong’s leader.
The flash protests, which later spilled on to the streets of the working-class district of Mong Kok, offered one of the first signs that civil unrest is flickering back to life in the Asian financial hub after an enforced lull during the coronavirus pandemic due to social distancing restrictions.
A pro-democracy movement demanding universal suffrage and more freedoms and autonomy from Beijing’s rule convulsed the city for seven successive months last year and brought millions to the streets for rallies that often turned violent.
In scenes that recalled that unrest, the police took a heavy-handed approach on Sunday, charging jeering crowds in malls, firing pepper pellets and chasing protesters through busy commercial streets.
Police said those arrested were aged between 12 and 65. Offences included unlawful assembly, assaulting an officer and failing to produce proof of identity.
A 22-year-old man was also found to have materials believed to be intended for making petrol bombs, they said.
Footage on social media showed protesters being held on the ground, scuffles and people bleeding.
At the height of the Sunday evening clashes, officers were filmed throwing Roy Kwong, a Democratic Party legislator, to the ground, with one pressing his knee on to the politician’s head. Mr Kwong has often attended protests in an effort to mediate to restore calm, and he is believed to have been trying to negotiate with the police.
His party wrote on its Facebook page that he was to be charged with disorderly behaviour.
The Hospital Authority confirmed that 18 people were treated.
Among them was reportedly a local female journalist, who claimed to have been strangled by an officer as she filmed the police operation, causing her to faint.
Reports and pictures also emerged of journalists being corralled and forced to kneel on the ground.
The Hong Kong Journalists’ Association (HKJA) said some members of the press were prevented from filming.
“Some journalists who were sprayed by pepper spray were not allowed to receive immediate treatment, and they were requested to stop filming,” said Chris Yeung, chairman of the HKJA.
Benedict Rogers, the chairman of the London-based Hong Kong Watch, called for an independent international inquiry to hold the police to account and impose sanctions on city officials.
“If action is not taken urgently by the international community, we will see the death of Hong Kong’s autonomy, freedom and the rule of law,” he said. (© Daily Telegraph, London)