Hong Kong police on Wednesday brushed off allegations that officers used excessive force at a subway station and obstructed the media the previous night after stopping a bus filled with protesters in Kowloon Bay and arresting 33 people.
The detainees were accused of carrying out disruptive and destructive acts outside Mong Kok Police Station and Wong Tai Sin MTR station. After trying to block a main road in Wong Tai Sin, about 40 radical protesters boarded a KMB bus to Lam Tin.
After police intercepted the bus on Kwun Tong Road at around 9.30pm, several protesters managed to get out and run away. Police gave chase and arrested one near Amoy Gardens.
After police searched the double-decker bus, 11 passengers were allowed to leave and 32 protesters were arrested – 27 men and five women.
Police said laser pointers and riot gear were found on the suspects, who were arrested for unlawful assembly and possession of offensive weapons.
As the search was being conducted, police asked the press to leave the bus because it was a crime scene. The Hong Kong Journalists Association later condemned the officers for obstructing reporters from their work.
Chief Superintendent John Tse Chun-chung of the force’s public relations branch said at a daily police briefing on Wednesday police had to make a number of considerations – such as the privacy of those arrested, the preservation of evidence and the chance of escape – when deciding to cordon off a crime scene.
“We must take proactive measures to prevent suspects ruining evidence such as the offensive weapons they were carrying,” he said.
“We must prevent suspects from tipping off other offenders through live streaming of the press. Some offenders might exploit the media to forewarn others about police arrest.”
On the same night, police were called to Prince Edward MTR station when a man sprayed paint on ticketing machines. The man put up a struggle during the arrest but was subdued and handcuffed.
Senior Superintendent Li Kwai-wah of the Organised Crime and Triad Bureau said the suspect was on a list of people wanted in connection with the radical protesters who stormed the Legislative Council building on July 1.
Protesters accused police of keeping volunteer emergency workers from treating the man. But Li said the suspect could communicate with the volunteers after he was arrested at 11.16pm and that he was able to communicate with medical staff before he was carried to an ambulance.
The suspect was finally sent to Kwong Wah Hospital at 11.23pm where he was said to be in stable condition.
The man’s father said at the hospital that his 21-year-old son was conscious and able to talk. The young man sustained injuries to his head and face, the father said.
Police have arrested 1,183 people since the city's anti-government protest crisis began on June 9. On Tuesday night, police fired seven beanbag rounds at protesters who hurled eggs, bricks and glass bottles – and shot metal balls with slingshots – at officers in Mong Kok Police Station.
At a separate press conference, two Hongkongers arrested at Prince Edward MTR station accused police of using excessive force on Saturday, alleging officers had indiscriminately attacked passengers while chasing protesters onto a train.
The force had earlier defended its officers, saying they had only targeted radicals who had changed their clothes after trashing the station and brawling with other passengers.
But a young woman, who identified herself as Ms Lung, said on Wednesday that she saw a man who was not dressed in black – the colour of choice for protesters – foam at the mouth after being beaten up at a platform by members of the elite police squad known as Raptors.
Lung said the man could not respond to officers’ questions even after one tried to provide him some first aid. More than 10 minutes later, firefighters came to take him away.
Lung, who was covered in black and flanked by lawmaker Claudia Mo Man-ching, said that after her arrest on suspicion of unlawful assembly, a policeman had touched her breast in the car park inside Kwai Chung Police Station. Her voice trembled as she gave her account, but she provided no more details.
She said two policewomen would not let her close the door when she went to the toilet, despite male officers standing nearby.
“I feel very ashamed. Every time I think back, it gives me nightmares,” she said.
“With this kind of pain and trauma, I don’t think I can recover in a short period of time. The government can't relieve our pain by just saying two words.”
Lung was referring to the official withdrawal of the extradition bill announced by the government on Wednesday.
Another witness Kex Leung Yiu-ting, a leader of student union at the Education University of Hong Kong, said riot police had stopped him and other local residents from leaving via the escalator.
He said officers pepper-sprayed a resident in the face, while riot police hit them with batons and stepped on them as they walked down from the top of the escalator.
