News Digest

Hong Kong police officers ‘viciously attack’ protester as tensions rise

Six Hong Kong police officers have been suspended after a video appearing to show a protester being taken to a dark corner and beaten was aired on a local news channel. The apparent attack came as police arrested 45 people during a night of clashes between authorities and pro-democracy protesters. Trouble broke out on Hong Kong Island at 3am on Wednesday after dozens of protesters had occupied an underpass near the government headquarters. Police in riot gear used pepper spray to move the crowds. The man the man in the video, which was first shown on TVB but quickly spread on social media, was identified as Ken Tsang Kin-Chiu (pictured above), a member of the Civic Party in Hong Kong.

The proper action police should take is to bring the protester to the police car, not to take him away and then punch and kick him for four minutes.

Student leader Joshua Wong

The footage appears to show officers repeatedly kicking and punching Mr Tsang as he curls up in a ball. The Civic Party released a photograph of Mr Tsang with a bruised face and circular marks on his back. The protesters, believed to be a mixture of students and members of the Occupy Central movement, moved into the underpass on Lung Wo Road just hours after authorities had removed their barricades at protest sites around the city. A police spokesperson said the arrests were made for “illegal assembly” and that force was only used after repeated warnings that the road must be cleared. The clashes overnight follow two weeks of defiant protests on Hong Kong’s streets. Authorities had chosen not to move on the protesters who numbered tens of thousands at times.

I have to stress here that even though protesters raised their hands in their air it does not mean it was a peaceful protest.

Police spokesman Tsui Wai-Hung