Home Affairs Secretary Lau Kong-wah announced that the fireworks display in Victoria Harbour, traditionally held on the second day of the Lunar New Year has been cancelled for security reasons.
It appears that the government is unable to exert enough control on the HK Police to ensure public safety. And that more video of police beating and arresting random people will further erode the tourism industry.
A mainland visitor, when asked if she was afraid of coming to Hong Kong, answered: “I’m afraid of being attacked or arrested for no reason”.
Judicial review application by photographer Lee Wing Ho reveals police abuse of warrants to illegally search phones.
//there was something not quite right about the warrants. First, Lee wasn’t served with them. Second, the warrants authorized the police to search the 22nd floor of police headquarters. Why would the police seek a warrant to search their own premises?
….
Lawyers representing Lee therefore inferred that the police “having arrested and confiscated a large number of smartphones and electronic devices from a number of suspects on different occasions and having brought them to the 22/f of Police Headquarters” sought two warrants “to access all of them without conditions or limitations.”//
Hands and feet were tied and plastic bags were alleged to have committed suicide. Two corpses with broken waists appeared on the street.
He fell and died without any loud noises or blood. A floating body with seams sealed in both hands appeared at sea. …They are not a bunch of unquestionable numbers.
When absurdity becomes everyday, please refuse to be numb, Numbness can only make a fallacy common sense. What would happen to a dead body from heaven?
(Inspired by Rene Magritte’s Golconda, translation google translate)
A group of Hong Kong University of Science & Technology (HKUST) alumni have crafted a video that uses dance to tell the story of the protests so far…
The dancers come from different industries and are among the anonymous millions who have worked to ensure Hong Kong has continued to be one of the world’s greatest cities – despite the incompetent and corrupt leaders foisted upon the SAR by Beijing.
As one dancer puts it “Not only we all have stayed in Hong Kong, we also have [a] strong will in making our city great again”.
‘In 2019, we are all awakened from our usual lives. Our city, our identity, our culture & values, our freedom are being nibbled by the regime. Time has chosen us and it is time for Hong Kong people to stand and safeguard our city. We wish to use our passion in dancing and in our city to reunite everyone and to invite the world to stand with Hong Kong, fight for Hong Kong against absolute power and authority.”
Leaked law-enforcement manuals contain guidelines often ignored in confrontations with protesters.
As violence escalated in Hong Kong over recent months, senior officials repeatedly ruled out a full inquiry into increasingly aggressive police tactics toward pro-democracy demonstrators.
Independent scrutiny would be an “injustice” and a “tool for inciting hatred” against the force, commissioner Chris Tang said recently, echoing the refusal of Carrie Lam, the city’s Beijing-appointed leader, to meet one of protesters’ key demands. A police spokesman emphasized that the force is adhering to “strict” guidelines in policing the protests, “benchmarked against international standards.”
A review of more than 100 pages of police guidelines and training manuals obtained by The Washington Post details these protocols surrounding use of force. The guidelines, however, were often ignored by police, who have misused chemical agents and used excessive force against protesters not resisting, according to experts in policing who examined dozens of incidents in consultation with Post journalists and in comparison with the police protocols.
Read the full article here, including a response from the HK Police
