Police ‘pressed me to the ground’, claims HK student leader Joshua Wong
Hong Kong student protest leader Joshua Wong on Thursday accused police of using violence against him during his arrest.
The 18-year-old Wong and another student leader, Mr Lester Shum, were taken into custody on Wednesday as authorities moved in to clear the pro-democracy camp in the district of Mong Kok.
Mr Wong, a key figure in the movement that has paralysed parts of Hong Kong, was charged with obstructing the work of police officers and released on bail on Thursday.
“They (police) had pressed me to the ground to limit my movement and injured me in the process,” he told reporters outside the Kowloon City Magistrates’ Court.
“This caused injury marks to my neck and face and they consecutively, six to seven times, tried to hurt my body including my private parts,” he said.
Mr Shum, 21, also alleged police had used violence when arresting him.
Punched
“They had used fists to punch and feet to kick me in the process. They had used their knees to bump me and kicked me in the waist,” Mr Shum, who like Mr Wong was released on bail late on Thursday, said.
“They had also pulled on my hair and pressed my head to the ground, this happened twice,” he said.
News footage of the arrests did not appear to show the pair resisting.
About 150 protesters were taken into custody when authorities tore down barricades and tents in Mong Kok, one of three main protest sites, in a major blow to the movement.
Mr Wong said he has been banned from the area for two months as part of his bail conditions.
He said: “I can’t go to the Mong Kok area before Jan 14. I feel mystified.”
His lawyer Michael Vidler told the court that the “motivation for this prosecution is political”.
Both he and Mr Wong were pelted with eggs as they left the courthouse as tensions run high in Hong Kong over the future of the struggling pro-democracy movement.
Source: AFP
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