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Scores arrested in HongKong protests
November 29, 2014, 6:49 am

According to Hong Kong’s "Basic Law" and the top Chinese legislature’s decisions, more than 5 million Hong Kongers can choose the chief executive in 2017 through a “one man, one vote” election [Wikimedia Commons]

According to Hong Kong’s “Basic Law” and the top Chinese legislature’s decisions, more than 5 million Hong Kongers can choose the chief executive in 2017 through a “one man, one vote” election [Wikimedia Commons]

Hong Kong police have arrested scores of pro-democracy protesters during clashes in the district of Mong Kok on Saturday morning, the South China Morning Post says.

Those arrested were accused of assaulting police, possessing weapons and participating in an unlawful assembly.

Demonstrators for universal suffrage clashed with the police overnight resulting in injuries as local authorities try to thwart attempts to recapture roads.

Earlier on Wednesday, 86 people were arrested in Mong Kok district, as the protesters attempted to block roads, sit-ins that have choked the city for weeks.

10 people were injured in scuffles on Saturday, among them eight policemen said RTHK channel.

In attempts to keep the roads clear the Hong Kong police used pepper spray and set up cordon lines on Friday, saying the assembly was unlawful.

Protestors on Friday were also using the three-fingered protest salute inspired by the blockbuster Hollywood franchise The Hunger Games to express opposition, said local media reports.

Thousands of protesters, mostly students, joined the Occupy Central movement on September 28 to express their discontent with an electoral reform package for choosing the region’s next leader.

According to Hong Kong’s “Basic Law” and the top Chinese legislature’s decisions, more than 5 million Hong Kongers can choose the chief executive in 2017 through a “one man, one vote” election. The formula allows it wide-ranging autonomy and freedoms and specifies universal suffrage for Hong Kong as an eventual goal, which had never been realized under the British colonial rule.

Global media attention this week has been divided over protests in Hong Kong and protests in Ferguson, Missouri in the US where thousands of people came on the streets to vent their anger at a grand jury decision not to indict a white police officer who fatally shot an unarmed black teen. US President Barack Obama has called for reflection on the difficulties minorities face in the United States.

 

TBP and Agencies