Lawmaker: Police 'clearly Abusing' Covid-19 Powers

Democratic Party lawmaker, Lam Cheuk-ting, says the battle against the coronavirus pandemic must not lead the public to forget about what he described as police brutality and abuse of power.

Speaking on RTHK's Letter to Hong Kong programme, Lam said he was also concerned that regulations on social distancing gave the police more powers that were being abused.

He cited the example of inspections at restaurants, which he said unfairly targetted businesses that had shown support for last year's anti-government protest movement.

He also described an incident during a protest in Prince Edward on March 31. According to Lam, a fellow party member was stopped and searched along with four people he didn't know, then accused of breaching social distancing rules that prevent gatherings of more than four.

"This is absurd, the police were clearly abusing their new powers," he said.

Lam criticised the police complaints mechanism, saying the in-house Complaints Against Police Office and the Independent Police Complaints Council were "failing miserably". He called for an independent inquiry into policing.

"I urge you all not to divert your attention from police brutality and police abuse of power," Lam said. "We need to speak up in the face of injustice and turn things around.

"Establishing an independent commission of inquiry is the only way to identify the wrongdoings of individuals and hold them accountable for their misconduct.

"More importantly, it is the only way to also identify the structural faults in our current system so that we can prevent similar cases from happening in the future."