Students sing “Do You Hear the People Sing” over the Chinese National Anthem in school.
Love Hong Kong!!!
The youtube account hosting the video has been closed down, the video is mirrored here.
Category: Love Hong Kong
‘I Thought I Was About to Die’: Eyewitnesses Describe Brutal Beatings by Police
A crumpled tissue dampened with tears lies near Ng Chi Fai as he tells how a routine journey home on the Hong Kong subway landed him in a scene of terrifying chaos.
Business was slow for the chef Saturday night at the restaurant where he boils, steams and fries the Cantonese dishes his customers love. The 53-year-old, a cook since the age of 18, was fretting about getting home, scrolling through the news on his cellphone as protests broke out across the city. Demonstrators were defying a police ban, angered by the arrests of a group of pro-democracy activists.
So he decided to leave early, changed out of his chef’s shirt and hurried to the nearby Lai Chi Kok transit railway station.
A wave of irritation overcame him as he changed trains at Prince Edward station, where he found a platform crammed with an unusually large crowd for late Saturday night: mainly families with small children, older people, and young women dressed in fancy clothes for a night out. He squeezed onto a train with other passengers, including some protesters.
Read the full article here: Los Angeles Times
Text: Los Angeles Times, Robyn Dixon, Ryan Ho Kilpatrick
Photo: Marcus Yam, Los Angeles Times
Hong Kong Bar Association Statement on Police Violence
The Hong Kong Bar Association (HKBA) released a statement on Police action in relation to the protests against the extradition law.
1. The fundamental duties of the Police Force are to protect the life, safety and well-being of residents, to safeguard public order, and to bring offenders before the courts for them to be dealt with in accordance with due process. It is an important part of our system which defends and upholds the Rule of Law.
2. There is, however, evidence that some elements in the Police Force have fallen below their usual high standards of conduct. In the past few months there has been a great deal of television and video footage showing police officers using excessive force to disperse protesters and in making arrests. Excessive crowd dispersal techniques have included the indiscriminate use of tear gas (including inside an MTR station) and the shooting of crowd control projectiles at shoulder height level or above at close range. Beatings upon arrests are apparent and have been widespread.
“riot police launching indiscriminate attacks without any apparent lawful excuse and using pepper spray on passengers inside a train compartment or hitting them with batons, especially since the officers in question left the train carriage afterwards without making any arrests.”
3. Video footage from the Prince Edward MTR station last Saturday night show riot police launching indiscriminate attacks without any apparent lawful excuse and using pepper spray on passengers inside a train compartment or hitting them with batons, especially since the officers in question left the train carriage afterwards without making any arrests.
4. Members of HKBA who have assisted arrested persons have experienced obstruction at police stations where arrested persons were denied timely access to legal assistance and representation. Arrested persons have also complained of abuses suffered during detention, many of whom required hospitalization or other non-trivial medical treatments.
5. There have been other violations of the Police General Orders such as the failure of police officers to display any form of identification which fosters a sense of impunity and lack of accountability. The various explanations that have been proffered to justify this – such as there being “no room” on the uniform of the Special Tactical Squad to display proper identification – are unconvincing to say the least.
6. It is paramount that whatever difficult or provocative circumstances that the Police Force may have to face, they must respect the constraints that are placed on them by the Police General Orders, and the law generally, which ensure professionalism, especially with respect to the use of force that is no more than proportionate in the circumstances.
7. The HKBA condemns any abuse of power by the Police Force. As disciplined professionals equipped with public authority and lethal and non-lethal weaponry, any unwarranted or excessive use of force against members of the public, be they protesters or ordinary passers-by or residents in housing estates, cannot be condoned. The incidents described above have greatly reduced public confidence in the Police Force. An independent inquiry will offer the truth that the public and the police deserve and may restore public confidence in our Police Force.
Hong Kong Bar Association 3rd September 2019
Police Officer Goes Kung Fu Panda on Media
Just when you think you’ve seen it all… a Hong Kong Policeman goes Kung Fu Panda on the media in Prince Edward last night (2 Sept).
In the same incident police used tear gas and pepper spray to attack journalists late last night with at least one sent to the hospital.
MTR Injunction
Protestor Johnson Yeung Speaks About His Arrest
Speech by Johnson Yeung Ching Yin (ex convenor of Civil Human Rights Front) after his release on bail on 30th July 2019 evening:
There are many protestors here, some 40 of them have been held inside the Kwai Chung Police Station, and for many the 48-hour limit has passed.
I am one of the protestors arrested on 28th July. My name is Johnson Yeung. I was arrested in Central District at around 11pm that night. We were very cooperative at that time and we followed instructions given by the police. Policemen dragged me behind their shields regardless and subdued me with their fists. This is a complete abuse of police power!
“Being born in Hong Kong gives us the responsibility to make this a better place.”
My mobile phone was confiscated by the Police after the arrest. When they confiscated my mobile phone, I have told them the mobile phone must be put in a sealed evidence bag. However, they did not do so. After urging them several times, they still did not do so. They did not do so even after our arrival at the police station. Worse still, a police officer flashed a torchlight into my eyes when I was on my way to see the officer on duty. Another police officer even threatened me by saying “If you continue to be noisy you will be put inside the air-conditioned room”. They tried to use cruel treatment to threaten protestors who stood by their own rights.
The 40 more of us sat inside a car park that was as hot as a steamer for 24 hours. Some protestors may have sat there for even longer without rest. All we could do was sit. Some people were on the verge of getting a heat stroke. It is very clear to everyone whether this is normal practice or an abuse of power: The police was obviously trying to punish the protesters.
While the Police claimed that I was arrested for obstructing police officers, after detaining me for almost 24 hours, they obtained a search warrant from a Magistrate for the offence of unlawful assembly at midnight. They chose to bring me to my household in the middle of the night to disturb my family.
“The government is still sacrificing teenagers’ blood and freedom for their own dignity, power and benefit! We despise these! We want freedom! All we are asking for is freedom! We ask for autonomy! There are no rioters! There’s only tyranny!”
The above are tactics that the police are using: Illegal, inappropriate ways to discourage the people of Hong Kong from coming out to protest. All these convey one message: If you come out to protest, expect a deprivation of basic rights. Expect nuisance. Expect terror and restlessness for your family.
I do not reckon the above as what the Police should be doing. However, these actions are exactly what they have been doing to abuse and exert their power. These actions are also reasons why we have been pushing for the involvement of an independent investigative committee in reviewing the Police’s abuse of power.
Next, I would like to talk about this charge of “rioting”. There are some 40 people inside, and over 40 of us are being charged with “rioting”. I might have spent only around 20 hours with them inside this dungeon, but most of them are… (sobbing) they were only ten-odd and twenty-odd years old!
Why should they be prosecuted and threatened with the charge of “rioting”? In 2014 it was like this. In 2016 nothing changed. It is 2019 now and it has been five years! The government is still sacrificing teenagers’ blood and freedom for their own dignity, power and benefit! We despise these! We want freedom! All we are asking for is freedom! We ask for autonomy! There are no rioters! There’s only tyranny!
There are no rioters! There’s only tyranny!
I had a short conversation with several arrested protestors. In fact, they are really just… They are just teenagers that desperately hoped for a better Hong Kong. Some of them have considered migration and starting a new life in a different country, but ultimately they said: “Being born into Hong Kong gives us the responsibility to make this a better place.” Even if they have the right and the chance to immigrate, they still want to fight for freedom here in Hong Kong in hopes of making their homeland a place where people could truly live in peace. They are really not rioters. They are just a group of idealistic teenagers. I urge everyone to continue to support them.
Hong Kong Public Holidays for 2017
Dates for your dairy…
