Tens Of Thousands Join New Extradition Bill March

Large crowds of people set off from Victoria Park in Causeway Bay on Sunday afternoon for the latest in a series of anti-government protests sparked by the now-suspended plan to allow extraditions to the mainland for the first time.

Protesters clad in black made their way out of the park in the scorching heat, using umbrellas to shield themselves from the sun.

But many appeared to have given the official starting point a miss, with some joining from the nearby Sogo mall and other points along the route.

The march left the park at around 3.30pm, with those at the front reaching the end point in Wan Chai in under an hour.

Among the slogans the protesters were chanting were calls for Chief Executive Carrie Lam to resign.

Marketing professional Dorothy Wong was among a group of mothers joining the march. She told RTHK that she and the other women are prepared to stand in between young protesters and the police if it looks like any clashes are about to break out.

"We want to stand among the crowd together with the young people in Hong Kong. We are together with them and we're willing to fight together with them," Wong said.

Another of the marchers, Aileen Cheng, said she feels sad that the extradition saga has pitted police officers against ordinary people, pinning the blame for this on the government.

"You've got to have a passion for the people and I find that the government does not care so much about our people," Cheng said.

Security had been tightened ahead of the demonstration, with large water barriers put up around the government's headquarters at Tamar, as well as around the police headquarters in Wan Chai which was besieged by protesters twice last month.

Organisers from the Civil Human Rights Front had originally hoped the march could end in Admiralty or Central, but the police refused this, saying that for safety reasons they were only willing to allow the procession to go as far as Southorn Playground.

Despite this, a small number of protesters were said to be planning to press on to the Court of Final Appeal regardless, to hammer home the demand for a judge-led inquiry into the police force's handling of previous protests.

The police had sought to paint a gloomy picture about the security situation surrounding Sunday's protest, warning that participants should assess their safety and be ready to abandon the march should any trouble kick off.

Demonstrations organised by the front in June and on July 1 attracted massive numbers and while the marches themselves passed off peacefully, violent clashes did erupt after some of the rallies had ended.

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