Hong Kong | Activists face riot charges after holiday protest

Supporters try to prevent suspects from having their pictures taken as they leave court on bail in Hong Kong

Several dozen people appeared in a  Hong Kong court yesterday to face rioting charges following a violent clash earlier this week between protesters and police sparked by a clampdown on holiday street food vendors.
Hong Kong police and local media reports said 37 people were attending court in Kowloon, each facing one count of taking part in a riot, a rarely used charge that carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.
Defendants were given bail and their cases adjourned until April, the reports said. A 15-year-old appeared separately at a juvenile court to face the same charge, local channel Cable TV reported.
Police arrested a total of 64 people after the street battle, which erupted late Monday in densely populated Mong Kok and lasted until dawn Tuesday.
Activists were angered by authorities’ attempts to crack down on food hawkers selling fishballs and other local delicacies for the Lunar New Year holiday. The unlicensed vendors are a local holiday tradition but attempts this year by authorities to remove them stoked concerns that Hong Kong’s local culture is disappearing as Beijing tightens its hold on the semiautonomous Chinese city.
Protesters pelted police with bricks and glass bottles and set fires on the street. Officers responded with batons and pepper spray. One officer fired two warning shots into the air, a highly unusual act in Hong Kong, which otherwise has a reputation for being extremely safe. Nearly 90 officers and four reporters were injured.
It was the worst violence in Hong Kong since late 2014, when the city was rocked by pro-democracy protests that left a widening trust gap between the public and the city’s Beijing-backed leader.
Police said 16 other people, including one as young as 14, were released on bail as they continue to investigate. They said another 10 are being held for “for further enquiries.”
The scuffles underscore how tensions remain unresolved more than a year after the end of pro-democracy protests that gripped the city. Mong Kok, a popular and densely populated shopping and entertainment district, was one of the neighborhoods where activists occupied streets for about 11 weeks in late 2014, capturing world headlines with their demands for greater electoral freedom.

A protestor throws a brick at police in Mong Kok district

On Tuesday, Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying, told reporters a mob had attacked police officers and journalists, and said the perpetrators would be prosecuted. More than 80 officers and four reporters were hurt, he said.
Police cars and public property were damaged, fires started and bricks and other objects thrown at police officers, including those already injured and lying on the ground, Leung said.
“I believe the public can see for themselves from TV news reports the seriousness of the situation. The (Hong Kong) government strongly condemns such violent acts. The police will apprehend the mobs and bring them to justice,” Leung said.
Officials said they were investigating whether the violence had been organized in advance.
At one point, a protester tried to tackle a traffic police officer from behind before both sides rushed in to the melee in the middle of a busy street, according to video shown by local news channel Cable TV. Moments later, another officer appeared to fire two warning shots into the air.
Hong Kong police said the protesters had ignored their warnings to get off the street and shoved officers, who responded with batons and pepper spray.
Police said late Tuesday that 61 people ranging in age from 15 to 70 were arrested on suspicion of unlawful assembly, assaulting police, resisting arrest, obstructing officers, possession of offensive weapons and disorderly conduct in a public place.
Some were also suspected of participating in a riot, a charge that Police Commissioner Lo Wai-Chung told reporters earlier in the day has not been employed since 1967 riots expressing support for China’s radical Cultural Revolution and against British colonial rule.
Two warning shots were fired during the incident, Acting District Commander Yau Siu-kei said. AP