HKBU Head 'deeply Concerned' For Arrested Student

The head of Baptist University, Roland Chin, says he is "deeply concerned" about the wellbeing of a journalism student who was arrested in Tai Koo on Sunday while covering a protest there.

Video footage of the arrest showed the student yelling that an officer had warned him he would be raped once in detention, and the student lifted up his shirt to show the TV cameras that – at that point at least – he had no bruises.

The student journalist, who is a member of the student union's editorial board, also shouted that should anything happen to him, people should know that he would not have committed suicide.

In a letter to teaching staff and students, the university president said "it is with a heavy heart" that he has to tell people about the arrest at Cityplaza, although it was not known what the young man, surnamed Tang, had been accused of.

Chin said staff from the university had gone to a police station to assist the student and the institution had also sent him a lawyer.

The university chief added that he was liaising with the relevant government authorities to try to ensure that students arrested over the weekend would be treated fairly by the police.

A photojournalist from Stand News was also arrested while covering a demonstration at the mall in Tai Koo and was accused of obstructing officers.

The online news outlet said the reporter was wearing a press vest and was filming the police from a distance when riot officers suddenly surrounded and subdued him.

Stand News strongly condemned the police move, describing it as unreasonable, and demanded the immediate release of their journalist.