13th September 2019 – (Hong Kong) A protester recounted his ghastly experience at the notorious San Uk Ling Holding Centre after being interviewed by Next Magazine.

The room was pitch black with air conditioner at full blast, arrestees were asked to stand in a row and each of them was covered in blood.



On the night of 11th Aug, large groups of protesters were arrested in Tsim Sha Tsui and sent to the remote and close to China border – “San Uk Ling Holding Centre”.

Amongst the protesters sent there, many suffered from heavy injuries and bone fractures, also there were rumours of sexual offence committed on female arrestees.

Evil (Pseudonym) aged 27, was one of the arrestees, she described the terrifying 32 hours of detention at Sun Uk Ling Holding Centre.

Evil works as a pet groomer, she was arrested in Tsim Sha Tsui on 11th Aug by the Special Tactical Contingent and got transported to Sheung Shui Su Uk Ling Holding Centre by a police car.

Upon getting off, she immediately spotted the tall and bird-caged-like tall fences. The centre is consisted of 5 barracks like detention blocks, each block is divided into 4 sections and each section has a maximum capacity of 15 persons.

According to the interview, Block A is mainly used for processing general procedures, Block C is for arrestees to take recess. No single light, window or clock could be seen in the buildings, torchlights were needed for police officers on duty. She said once you were in Sun Uk Ling, it is impossible to tell day from night.

Evil claimed she requested to see her family and lawyer from the first moment she was arrested but all requests were rejected by the police. “(We were) asked to take photos with a piece of paper with our names on it and with some evidence placed on the floor”, Evil said.

“I saw a group of fellow protesters, some were boys and others were girls, the police talked to us with contempt, incessantly condemning us with swear words; I heard a protester argued with an officer, and suddenly I heard a loud bang. I was unsure if he was beaten, I could not see, I heard cries for help and after a while, I guess it was the policeman speaking, “It is me, you need to recognise me.”

“Then I saw a row of fellow protesters standing at the door, all young men, their heads were bleeding profusely, some even had blood covered all over their bodies and clothing. A few had missing tooth and their jaws were still bleeding. I could not help but I wept, yet there was nothing I could do, I was completely at loss, miserable and furious.”



“We had no idea where we were, we had no clues about what the police would do to us, we were not allowed to have conversations and if you make a sound, you could be up next for another beating.”

“Some of their heads were bandaged and completely sanguine, some had swollen faces; one of them I wonder if he had skin allergy, skin redness all over his body, sweating non-stop with a grimace of pain; another protester had his hand pressed on his stomach at all time, his voice was weak and requested to see a doctor but the policeman only asked him to wait. ‘We don’t mind being arrested, just hand us over to the court, but why do you have to beat us to a pulp? How could people with serious injuries stay here instead of a hospital? Why do you say minimal force is used yet everyone had bloodied faces? This is horrendous! Is this really Hong Kong?”

Evil has suffered from asthma since birth, over the period of detention she experienced breathing difficulties, and asked the police for medication but she was refused.