SAR govt slams UK group for 'brutal police' remark

A co-founder of Hong Kong Watch says the SAR witnessed 'truly outrageous police brutality on Christmas Eve'. File photo: AFP

The government has rejected "in the strongest possible terms" a claim by the UK-based pressure group Hong Kong Watch that the SAR's police have unleashed appalling brutality on protesters this Christmas.



The group had issued a statement saying the police beatings, tear gas and water cannon use, and the firing of rubber bullets at people’s heads on Christmas Eve, were further examples of an "escalating human rights crisis in Hong Kong".



A co-founder of Hong Kong Watch, Benedict Rogers, said that "Hong Kong witnessed truly outrageous police brutality on Christmas Eve", adding that "the level of violence in Hong Kong has reached such severe and sustained levels that an international, independent inquiry should be urgently established".



But in a statement, a government spokesman rejected the idea that there had been any "brutal action" on the police's part against "peaceful shoppers and protesters".



"There is nothing further from the truth in these false accusations and fabrications. The police had adopted a measured and restrained approach throughout. Only minimum force was deployed in response to the blatant unlawful activities of the violent protesters on Christmas Eve," the spokesman said.



"These violent activities included arson, recklessly vandalising shops and the Mongkok Branch of HSBC, blockading roads, destroying 21 sets of traffic lights in Mong Kok area, brutally assaulting innocent members of the public, attacking police officers by petrol bombs and charging police cordon lines and unlawful assembly."



The spokesman described Rogers' remarks as "fake, utterly irresponsible and grossly unfair" and said it is "myths and malicious falsehoods" like these that are giving the world an entirely incorrect image of Hong Kong.