As Occupy Central waits for talks with the government, High Court bars protesters from Mong Kok and Admiralty
Hong Kong (AsiaNews) - The High Court granted an interim injunction yesterday barring Occupy protesters from occupying sections in the Admiralty and Mong Kok districts.
The order calls for demonstrators to leave Argyle Street in Mong Kok, as well as the area between Tim Mei Avenue and Lung Wui Road in the Admiralty district.
Chiu Luen Public Light Bus Co. and the owners of the area's Citic Tower were the plaintiffs.
In response, one protester, Ng Ting-pong, today said he was applying for legal aid to allow lawyers to represent him as an "interested party" in a fresh court hearing, in which he plans to argue the injunction goes against Hongkongers' freedom of expression. Ng, who is 38, quit his job as a waiter to spend the last 20 days at the Mong Kok protest site.
The police is concerned that implementing the court injunction, especially in Mong Kok, might lead to fresh tensions. Yesterday police in riot gear confronted thousands of protesters who were trying to regain control of the area from which they were expelled.
Meanwhile, the Federation of Students is waiting to talk with the government delegation, led by the Chief Secretary Carrie Lam. Talks were put off several times because of police violence.
The parties to today's talks would consider a key demand of the protesters that the government submit "supplementary information" to the National People's Congress.
In a previous report to the Chinese government, the Hong Kong government had belittled such a demand and had not mentioned any of the actions carried out by the Occupy movement, such as street rallies, referendum, and demonstrations.
For several years, the Occupy movement has fought for full democracy in Hong Kong, through the direct election of the chief executive and meaningful universal suffrage.
Beijing has agreed to universal suffrage, but with candidates chosen by a pro-Beijing and pro-business committee.
Most analysts doubt that talks will lead to any changes to China's decision. For Hong Kong's chief executive, Leung Chun-ying, full democracy would be bad for business since most Hong Kongers "earn less than ,800 (€1,400) a month".
For the Catholic Church, the Occupy movement has already achieved a great result by raising political awareness among ordinary Hong Kongers, especially students, and focusing their attention on certain ideals.
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18/02/2021 12:50
