HK police: Expect violent clashes
Credit to Author: ASSOCIATED PRESS| Date: Sun, 28 Jul 2019 16:17:16 +0000
HONG Kong: Police in this island-state have announced that protesters must brace for violent dispersal in their next mass actions as the government’s tolerance has reached its maximum level.
The police said a likely bloody showdown in central Hong Kong would happen again, one day after clashes led to 11 arrests and left at least 2 dozens injured in an outlying district toward the border with mainland China.
A mid-afternoon rally set at 4 p.m. has been called at Chater Garden, an urban park in the financial district and about 500 meters west of the city’s government headquarters and legislature.
Police have denied a request from protest organizers to march about 2 kilometers west to Sun Yat-sen Memorial Park, but at least some of the demonstrators may still try to push forward.
Hong Kong has been wracked by protests for seven weeks, as opposition to an extradition bill has morphed into demands for the resignation of the city’s leader and an investigation into whether police have used excessive force in quelling the protests.
Underlying the movement is a broader push for full democracy in the semi-autonomous Chinese territory. The city’s leader is chosen by a committee dominated by a pro-Beijing establishment, rather than by direct elections.
In denying the march, police cited escalating violence in clashes with protesters that have broken out after past marches and rallies.
“The police must prevent aggressive protesters from exploiting a peaceful procession to cause troubles and violent clashes,” said Supt. Louis Lau of the police public relations branch.
The police had denied permission for Saturday’s march in Yuen Long, where a mob apparently targeting demonstrators had beat people brutally in a train station the previous weekend.
Officers fired tear gas and rubber bullets, as demonstrators threw bricks and other objects, and ducked behind makeshift shields.
Later, police wearing helmets charged into the train station where a few hundred protesters had taken refuge from the tear gas. Some officers swung their batons at demonstrators, while others appeared to be urging their colleagues to hang back. For the second week in a row, blood was splattered on the station floor.
Police said in a statement they arrested 11 men, aged between 18 and 68, for offences including unlawful assembly, possession of offensive weapon and assault. At least four officers were injured.
The Hospital Authority said 24 people were taken to five hospitals. As of Sunday morning, eight remained hospitalized, two in serious condition. Amnesty International, the human rights group, called the police response heavy-handed and unacceptable.
“While police must be able to defend themselves, there were repeated instances today where police officers were the aggressors,” Man-kei Tam, director of Amnesty International Hong Kong, said in a news release.
Police said they had to use what they termed “appropriate force” because of the bricks and other objects thrown at them, including glass bottles with a suspected corrosive fluid inside.
AP