TEHRAN, Jun 21 - Several hundred mainly student protesters have gathered outside Hong Kong government offices, with some blocking traffic on a major thoroughfare and others occupying the lobby of a government tax office.
TEHRAN, Young Journalists Club (YJC) - The new protest actions came after a deadline passed for the government to meet demands related to controversial extradition legislation that many see as eroding the territory's judicial independence.
Police called for demonstrators to disperse but have not taken firm action to remove them.
While the scene began peacefully, the presence again of protesters on busy Harcourt Road and in the lobby of the Revenue Tower raised the possibility of potentially violent confrontations.
"I now appeal to the members of the public to leave as soon as possible," police spokeswoman Yolanda Yu said at a news conference.
Outside, activist Joshua Wong called on police to answer demands over heavy-handed tactics used during a mass protest June 12, including the firing of 150 rounds of tear gas, rubber bullets and beanbag rounds, and the beating of unarmed protesters by police with truncheons.
"We ... urge police to apologize to the people" over the use of such tactics and their definition of the gathering as a riot, Wong said.
Protest leaders have said they are determined to keep up the pressure on territory leader Carrie Lam, who has shelved but not abandoned the extradition legislation. She has insisted the bill is needed to uphold justice, but critics see it as part of a campaign by Beijing to diminish Hong Kong's democratic institutions.
"I myself am not the type to get involved in violence," said student protester Brian Chow. "I'll just carry on sitting here, sing some Christian hymns, show our resistance, and keep the government paralyzed until it responds to us."
Source: AP
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