Shot HK teen to be charged with rioting
Masks to be banned at public gatherings
HONG KONG: The teenager who was the first victim of police gunfire in Hong Kong’s pro-democracy protests is being charged with attacking police and rioting, police said yesterday.
The shooting occurring during widespread violence across the semiautonomous Chinese territory that marred China’s National Day celebrations and has deepened anger against police, who have been accused of being heavy-handed against protesters.
The officer fired as 18-year-old Tsang Chi-kin struck him with a metal rod on Tuesday. The government said Mr Tsang’s condition was stable after surgery.
A police said the case against Mr Tsang was to be heard by a court yesterday afternoon. He was to be among seven people charged with rioting and faces two additional counts of attacking police.
It was unclear if Mr Tsang would appear in court, as the charges can be made in his absence. Rioting carries a possible penalty of up to 10 years in prison.
Thousands of people rallied on Wednesday to demand police accountability for the shooting, with many saying the use of lethal weaponry was unjustified.
Pockets of black-clad youths vented their anger late on Wednesday night, lobbing gas bombs at police quarters, vandalising subway stations and blocking traffic in several districts. Police responded with tear gas in some areas.
More than 1,000 students marched yesterday at the Chinese University in a continuing show of support for Mr Tsang and vowing to keep up their fight for more democratic freedoms. Many students felt that firing at Mr Tsang’s chest, close to his heart, was an attempt to kill him.
But police defended the shooting as “reasonable and lawful” as the officer had feared for his life and that of his colleagues.
Meanwhile, local media outlets including the South China Morning Post and news channel TVB, reported that Hong Kong will use an emergency ordinance for the first time in more than a half a century to ban face masks at public gatherings.
The government will enact the Emergency Regulations Ordinance after a special meeting of the city’s Executive Council today, TVB reported, citing people it didn’t identify.
First passed by the British government in 1922 to quell a seamen’s strike in Hong Kong’s harbour, the law was last used by the colonial administration to help put down riots that rocked the trading hub in 1967.
Chief Executive Carrie Lam’s office wasn’t able to comment.