Thirteen Charged Over PolyU Siege

Police have charged 13 people with a range of offences linked to the siege at the Polytechnic University in November last year, at the height of the anti-extradition protests.

Scores of protesters, many of them not connected to PolyU, spent almost two weeks holed up in the Hung Hom campus and fought fiercely to repel police as officers attemped to enter.

The 13 defendants, aged between 16 and 32, are to appear at Kowloon City Magistrates on Friday. Two men have been charged with participating in riots. One of them was also charged with possessing objects with intent to destroy property, while the other was charged with possessing weapons.

Four men and one woman were charged with having tools for illegal use. Another two were charged with dangerous driving, a further two with giving false information to police.

Another defendant faces a charge of disruption of order in a public place. The final defendant is charged with attacking police officers.