INTRODUCTION

Anti-government protesters in Hong Kong returned to Victoria Park this afternoon to hold “election meetings”, after police rejected an application for a proposed rally there.

Protesters had wanted to gather in Causeway Bay to call for international aid to support the months-long social movement in the city.

But before the event even began tensions flared outside the park with officers pepper-spraying one man and arresting him. Police also conducted body searches on those wearing masks, and fired tear gas to disperse a crowd on Hennessy Road.

The illegal rally, alongside three authorised ones in Central and Tsim Sha Tsui, marks the 22nd straight weekend of anti-government protests in Hong Kong.