Injured Student Wants Focus On 'excessive Force'

A university student who was injured during the police storming of Prince Edward MTR station last year said on the anniversary of the event that he believed that society focused too much on the rumours of deaths. He said the spotlight should instead be on the excessive force used by the officers.

In March, the High Court ordered the MTR to release the security footage from two stations to Kex Leung on the night of a controversial police operation last year.

Leung, who was president of the students' union at Education University at the time, said that after watching the relevant footage, he is planning to file a civil case against the police soon.

Referring to the events last year, Hong Kong Human Rights Monitor spokeswoman Claudia Yip said that the controversy was not on the police action at the demonstration site that day, but inside the MTR station that night.

She also pointed out from news footage, police officers were seen attacking those present, and the media and observers were banned from the area after that.

Yip said this had led to rumours that someone died there spreading quickly, and that she thinks an independent investigation is needed to resolve the public’s distrust of the police.

Government officials and police had repeatedly refuted such rumours about fatalities during the police operation on August 31 last year.