 |
| Hong Kong Polytechnic University was on fire late last night |
They were angered by the police's heavy handedness in dealing with the protesters holed up in Hong Kong Polytechnic University, not allowing them any way out, while firing endless rounds of tear gas and water cannons at them and threatening to use live rounds.
Meanwhile the protesters were trapped inside the campus and running out of food and drink. There is a video circulating on Twitter of two social workers who read out a message in English saying the police wouldn't let them out, that they are stuck inside Poly U, and that the protesters who are trapped inside are emotionally distraught, and some are injured but can't get medical aid.
We've
received this exclusive footage from 2 social workers trapped inside HK
Polytechnic Uni (19:50 HK time), under siege by police. “The police told
us it was safe to leave, but when we went out they released tear gas.”
The police must immediately defuse the standoff at #PolyU.
pic.twitter.com/pbHIqtfBDJ
—
Amnesty International (@amnesty) November
18, 2019
In the morning many Hong Kong residents didn't go to work and instead headed towards Poly U to distract the police and to offer help the protesters. However the police kept them at bay with teargas, but that didn't deter them from leaving the area.
At lunchtime as expected, office workers in Central occupied Pedder Street and Connaught Road Central, carrying umbrellas and ready to take on the tear gas with umbrellas.
 |
| Long lines waiting to catch the Star Ferry back to HK Island |
High Court judges found the mask ban introduced under emergency legislation was "incompatible with the Basic Law".
Two judges also found the measure that gave police the power to require a person to remove his or her mask at public places a disproportionate measure given its "remarkable width".
"There is practically no limit on the circumstances in which the power under that section can be exercised by a police officer," the judges wrote.
A lot of people are back to wearing masks again.
Tonight after work, so many people -- thousands -- wanted to head to Poly U to offer their support that to deter them, the Tsim Sha Tsui MTR station was closed, so they took the Star Ferry instead by the droves. It's probably the best day in business the Star Ferry has ever had in a long time.
 |
| Protesters abseiling down from a bridge to motorbikes below |
To see so many people out there trying to help, even just moral support is amazing. To see so many people willing to risk arrest to help the protesters just shows how much the respect for authority in Hong Kong has fallen by the wayside.
Meanwhile some protesters found a creative but also dangerous way to escape the campus by abseiling down from a bridge using a hose and then getting away by waiting motorbikes below. Apple Daily has reported at least 100 protesters escaped this way before the escape route was spotted by police.
And now leading politicians, including former president of the Legislative Council Jasper Tsang Yok-sing, Ip Kin-yuen, the education sector lawmaker, have gone into Poly U and promised that those under 18 would not be arrested, but that the police would note down their details.
Some 150 students took the deal and left the campus, but other protesters warned them not to trust "outsiders".
It's hard to say... should these people be trusted? But at the same time, these kids are mentally and physically exhausted.
Meanwhile where is Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor? Earlier in the day she visited the policeman -- police liaison officer -- who was shot in the leg with an arrow. As she left the hospital she didn't take any questions from the media about what was happening at Poly U.
It seems she has left that to the police to handle while she waits in her ivory tower for the mess -- her mess -- to be cleaned up...
No comments:
Post a Comment