Govt supporters chased off after welcoming arrests

Govt supporters chased off after welcoming arrests

Rival groups confronted each other outside Cheung Sha Wan Police Station on Saturday afternoon, as they each staged demonstrations over the arrests of 15 high-profile pro-democracy figures in relation to anti-government protests last year.



Around 20 members of the Labour Party, League of Social Democrats and Confederation of Trade Unions arrived first, to denounce the arrests.



After some time, they were joined by a smaller number of pro-government demonstrators from the Defend Hong Kong Campaign, who wanted to show their support for the police action.



"Cockroaches should be prepared to go to jail”, one of their posters read.



"Black-clad people messing up Hong Kong, rioters harming the country and the people," said another.



There was a lot yelling between the two groups, before police asked the government supporters to move on. They complied with the request, but were chased down the road by a rival protester.



Officers had already warned the pro-democracy activists that they could be arrested for unauthorised assembly.



There was no confrontation between officers and demonstrators, however, with the police staying inside the grounds of their station and monitoring the scene from a rooftop.



Pro-democracy legislators had earlier accused the government of "opening fire" on the people of Hong Kong and unleashing a "reign of terror" with the mass arrests.



But DAB lawmaker Holden Chow said the pan-dems were smearing the police force.



New People's Party leader and executive councillor Regina Ip, meanwhile, said the arrests should not be politicised. She said everyone is equal before the law and police would have made the arrests based on the evidence they had gathered.