A third held in mass round-up let go again: police

A third held in mass round-up let go again: police

Timmy Sung reports

The police say around a third of the more than 460 people they intercepted in Causeway Bay on New Year's Day were eventually released without being arrested – but only after many had spent hours held at the side of the road.



TV pictures had showed a large group of people forced to squat and put their hands on their heads on Hennessy Road, before officers pushed the media far back from the scene.



Police said at their press briefing on Thursday that "after initial investigations" 177 of the 464 people they had stopped were let go, while the remaining 287 were arrested on suspicion of unlawful assembly.



Officers had already said that they realised at the time that some of those held might simply be innocent bystanders, with this admission leading to claims that the force had made groundless, arbitrary mass detentions.



But senior superintendent Ng Lok-chun denied that officers had abused their powers, saying that people will be released straight away if preliminary investigations find they have done nothing wrong.



His colleague chief superintendent Kwok Ka-chuen also said that nobody should be present at a riot scene, no matter what their excuse is.



"No one has the privilege to stay in a riot when police officers have given repeated warnings for people to leave. You can claim to be a first aider, a human rights observer, you name it. But this doesn't give you any exemption from the legal liability from taking part in a riot," Kwok said.



The force said that over the past two days, they arrested 420 people, with the youngest aged just 12 and the oldest 81. They were detained on suspicion of various offences, including unlawful assembly, possession of offensive weapons, and disorderly conduct.



At their own press briefing, the Civil Human Rights Front – which organised the march on Wednesday – said the authorities are now targeting even peaceful protesters as a scare tactic to keep people from joining demonstrations.



"When there are dozens of citizens just criticising the police force, suddenly they all get arrested and are forced to kneel on the street," said Eric Lai, a vice-convenor of the group.



"We hadn't seen any signs or clues that they were attacking anyone. Rather, it was the police that were attacking a lawmaker, journalists, as well as arresting human rights observers. This is unacceptable and they are trying to intimidate as many ordinary citizens as they can. It's also a tactic to divide the peaceful protesters from those at the frontline," Lai said.