Police in riot gear attack Occupy protesters
Hong Kong (AsiaNews) - Hundreds of police in riot gear attacked and wounded Occupy protesters and human rights observers, to clear the Lung Wo Road, close to the government offices. One pro-democracy activist, Ken Tsang Kin-chiu was beaten for at least 4 minutes as he lay prone and helpless in non-violent protest (See photo. For the video click here). He is currently being treated at Ruttonjee Hospital under the police supervision.
"I am really saddened by what the police did" - Tsang
told the press. "If they wanted to arrest us, we would have accepted it, but I
saw them deliberately beat up students and protesters. They fell upon a protester
who had his hands raised, but the police said that he was provoking them, they
dragged him into a corner and beat him up".
Members of the group Human Rights Monitor (HRM), wearing recognizable helmets and
uniform to identify them, were among those attacked by police. The Director of HRM,
Law Yuk-kai, argues that in doing so police have violated international
agreements, which allow for human rights observers to attend protests.
The police have also arrested 45 people for "unlawful
assembly". One of their spokesmen continues to maintain that the operation
was to clear the road and not to put an end to the demonstrations. The police
had already removed barricades yesterday, but overnight the young people of Occupy
returned to continue their sit-in on the site.
For the past two weeks, students and pro-democracy groups have occupied different
streets of downtown Hong Kong to demand real universal suffrage in the
elections for the Chief Executive in 2017. China has decreed that everyone will be
allowed to vote, but it reserves the right to oversee the quality ("friends
of China") and the number (only 3) of candidates to choose from.
Yesterday, police cleared a few lanes to allow traffic to
transit on Queensroad and Causeway Bay, but there are still hundreds of
protesters at Admiralty and Mong Kok. At the beginning of the protest, when
police violently attacked a group of students, hundreds of thousands poured
into the streets in support of Occupy.
However, with the passage of time, many people - especially transporters,
shopkeepers, taxi drivers, hoteliers - view the occupation as a threat to their
jobs and have organized anti-Occupy demonstrations. There are also strong
suspicions that these protests - especially
violence against young people in the sit-in - are being orchestrated by China
and the Chinese mafia.
Occupy is calling for the governor of Hong Kong, Leung Chun-ying,
to resign for failing to voice Hong Kongers desire for democracy to the Chinese
government. Days ago he said he will not resign and that the movement will
never change Beijing's mind.
China fears that the "virus" of democracy will spread to the
continent. This explains the dozens of arrests of activists and supporters of Occupy
Central. State media consistently speak of the pro-democracy movement as "illegal",
and accuse it of being manipulated by "foreign powers" and of aiming
to destroy "social harmony."
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