Tear Gas Fired At Tin Shui Wai Protesters

Tear gas was fired near the Tin Shui Wai police station after armed police and protesters clashed during a rally over the controversial arrest of a female demonstrator overnight.

The clashes came as several gender rights advocacy groups protested against the arrest on Sunday night during which some officers were seen carrying a girl who was partially undressed, sparking accusations that she was stripped by some police officers.

Eleven groups, including the Gender and Sexual Justice in Action and the Chinese University’s Sex and Gender Concern Group, had called for a rally.

But they were met with a group of riot police outside the station, and one officer was seen shouting at a female protester telling her to move away from where she was standing.

An academic specialising in gender rights, Petula Ho from the University of Hong Kong, who was among the protesters, said she was shocked that people are not even allowed to stand outside a police station.

Armed police and protesters soon clashed as officers apparently tried to arrest some people who threw stones and eggs at them.

But Professor Ho Sik-ying, from the University of Hong Kong’s Department of Social Work and Social Administration, was one of those rallying outside the police station in support of the detainee.

She said the police suddenly rushed out of the station and arrested people even though there were no chaos.

Democratic Party lawmaker Helena Wong demanded the Equal Opportunities Commission and the Independent Police Complaints Council investigate the incident.

She also condemned the police for the rough treatment of the protester, and accused officers of attempting to insult the woman with what she called barbarian conduct that are “extremely disrespectful of women”.

At a brief media session held early on Monday morning, senior police superintendent, Yolanda Yu, said the protester was not cooperating, and since three female officers failed to subdue her, two male officers joined in to pin her down.

Yu said as the suspect was “struggling vigorously”, it resulted in “what happened in front of the camera”.

The protester was arrested on suspicion of assaulting an officer.

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