Chris Lau | 21 August 2014 | South China Morning Post
Top court to decide whether police were right to stop onstage antics during public rights rally
Category Archives: Police and Freedom of Assembly
Police ‘perform second major drill over Occupy Central’
Samuel Chan | 20 August 2014 | South China Morning Post
Almost 10 per cent of the 28,000-strong police force gathered yesterday as units from across the city took part in what is understood to have been the second major exercise to prepare for the Occupy Central civil disobedience campaign.
Hong Kong Police Slammed as Biased After Anti-Occupy Protest
18 August 2014 | Radio Free Asia
Democracy activists in Hong Kong on Monday accused police in the former British colony of inflating the number of participants at a weekend demonstration opposing plans for an “Occupy Central” movement, which has threatened mass civil disobedience if China doesn’t offer the city a real choice in the next election for its leader.
Police said the number of protesters at Sunday’s pro-Beijing march for “peace and democracy” had reached 111,800, in sharp contrast to the University of Hong Kong’s Public Opinion Programme’s estimate of no more than 88,000.
Police conduct at anti-Occupy protest will be watched for hint of bias
Albert Cheng | 14 August 2014 | South China Morning Post
Albert Cheng says officers’ recent heavy-handed treatment of pro-democracy protesters has thrown in doubt the force’s tradition of neutrality
Occupy Central activists will face quarter of Hong Kong’s 28,000-strong police force
Clifford Lo, Samuel Chan | 14 August 2014; updated 15 August 2014 | South China Morning Post
7,000 officers expected to be on hand to deal with possible protest in Central this month
Officers not encouraged to take part in march, says police commissioner
Ng Kang-chung, Samuel Chan | 14 August 2014 | South China Morning Post
Police officers are “not encouraged” to take part in Sunday’s anti-Occupy Central march, the city’s police commissioner says.
Laughing Off Threats in the Fight Against ‘Fake Democracy’
Didi Kirsten Tatlow | 13 August 2014 | New York Times
Chan Kin-man, a prominent Hong Kong democracy activist, receives many anonymous threats. He has gotten a razor blade in the mail and messages like: ‘‘Hunt and Kill Traitors!’’ Sophisticated hacking attempts occur daily, often from email addresses belonging to friends or students. Some threats are unprintable, about what the sender would like to do to Mr. Chan’s mother.
‘‘This guy sent it to me twice,’’ said Mr. Chan, sitting in his office at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, where he is a sociology professor, pulling out a letter from a folder. ‘‘He also likes my mother. Big fan of my mom.’’
Authorities must prepare for worst-case scenarios of Occupy Central
Grenville Cross | 11 August 2014 | South China Morning Post
Grenville Cross says while the government must make every effort to exercise restraint in the event of Occupy Central, law enforcement officers must nevertheless prepare for the worst
Fencing Off Civic Square Enrages Hong Kongers
Lin Yi | 23 July 2014 | Epoch Times
HONG KONG—The Civic Square, the symbolic heart of the Central Government Offices (CGO), was designed to express the relation between the people of Hong Kong and their government. That space is now being walled off in a move critics say shows a government turning hostile to its own people.
The CGO complex was originally designed with an open-door concept, as explained by then-Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen.
Popular protest spot Civic Square closed for security works, public access limited
Cheung Chi-fai and Jeffie Lam | 17 July 2014 | SCMP
A three-metre-high fence is being built outside the government’s headquarters amid security fears after several mass protests.
Critics attacked the measure, saying it undermined the right to freedom of assembly. The fence will block what used to be free access to the forecourt, or “Civic Square” as protesters call it, in front of the east-wing entrance to the Tamar site in Admiralty.
Mock Occupy-style protest in progress as police stage ‘major’ training exercise
Samuel Chan | 25 June 2014 | South China Morning Post
‘Demonstrators’ seen barging into police and blockading road inside Police College in Aberdeen as officers prepare for expected pro-democracy protest
Activists arrested after Legco protests could face fresh charges
Chris Lau | 24 June 2014 | South China Morning Post
Prosecutor asks for police and Justice Department to be given four more weeks to prepare cases against three protesters charged on Tuesday
Hong Kong police to stage ‘major exercise’ in preparation for Occupy Central
Niall Fraser, Clifford Lo | 24 June 2014 | South China Morning Post
Crack units to take part in ‘major exercise’ at Police College to prepare for any disruption caused by civil disobedience movement
Pepper spray used on ‘anti-white elephant’ marchers
Ng Kang-chung, Danny Mok | 5 May 2014 | SCMP
What started as a peaceful protest against costly infrastructure projects turned violent yesterday with police officers using pepper spray against demonstrators.
Occupy Central with Love and Peace 