Sunday Times 2
Police clear HK democracy protesters who stormed govt HQ
View(s):HONG KONG, Sept 27 (AFP) -Police cleared dozens of protesters who had been holding out at government headquarters today after storming the complex overnight, as a week-long protest against Beijing’s refusal to grant the city unfettered democracy turned angry.
Alex Chow, secretary-general of the Hong Kong Federation of Students, chants slogans as he is taken away by police after storming inside government headquarters in Hong Kong (REUTERS)
Police escorted the remaining 50 demonstrators from the building’s forecourt on Saturday afternoon, hauling some of them away after they refused to leave.
Up to a thousand other protesters remained camped outside the government complex, booing the police through the fence as they began rounding up the remaining demonstrators.
“Police should catch thieves, not students!” the crowds shouted.
The early hours had seen the tensest scenes yet in a string of recent protests, with riot police using pepper spray to clear out more than 100 people who had pushed into the grounds of the complex, some of them scaling a high fence.
Police had dragged many away overnight and into the morning, making 13 arrests.
Student groups have been spearheading a civil disobedience campaign this week in response to Beijing’s announcement last month that it will choose who can stand in elections for Hong Kong’s leader in 2017.