HONG KONG PARLIAMENT ERUPTS
Security officers pursue pro-democracy lawmaker Au Nok-hin as he leaps across desks to question Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam.
One of Hong Kong’s most prominent protest organizers was recovering after being attacked on the street by men wielding hammers.
Jimmy Sham — convenor of the Civil Human Rights Front, which has organized many of the city’s largest peaceful protests — issued a plea from his hospital bed Thursday for police to allow a march planned for Sunday in the Tsim Tsa Tsui area to go ahead. Mr. Sham was assaulted by four to five men Wednesday while on his way to a meeting in nearby Mong Kok — the second time he’s been attacked since August.
The Civil Human Rights Front has helped organize several of the largest protests ever held in the former British colony, including two largely peaceful marches in June that drew more than a million people. The demonstrations have since mushroomed into a broader push for greater democracy, leading to regular clashes between protesters and police and occasional incidents of mob violence.
On Thursday, Hong Kong’s embattled leader, Carrie Lam, was forced to repeatedly halt a question session in the city’s legislature as opposition lawmakers demanded she step down and address other protester demands. The coming weekend will be the Asian financial center’s 20th straight weekend of unrest.
Mr. Sham, who is planning to join the district council elections next month, was attacked in August by two masked men with a baseball bat and knife. Police have arrested three men in connection with that case, charging two of them with conspiracy to assault causing bodily harm. The third is on bail pending further investigation.
The Civil Human Rights Front said that Mr. Sham suffered several wounds in the most recent attack, but had no broken bones.