#PoliticalPrisoner #MassArrest
#PolyUSiege: HK Police Arrests 21 Civilians Including Student Standing in Public Exam

The police arrested 21 civilians in Hong Kong on the morning of April 26, 2021. The arrestees have refused bail in the Hong Kpng Polytechnic University (#PolyU) clash during the 2019 Anti-ELAB protest.

The Organised Crime and Triad Bureau of the Hong Kong Police Force charged them with “perverting the course of justice” as they were suspected of assisting other civilians trapped in the PolyU campus to avoid from being tracked.

Stand News found that one of the arrestees is a public exam HKDSE candidate who was absent for the subject Liberal Studies - Paper 1 exam due to police detention.

His/ her educational pathway will be obstructed as this paper accounts for 56% of the assessment, which is a core subject and required to obtain at least a level 2 in university admission.

Source: Stand News #Apr23

https://bit.ly/3aCvqb2

#PoliceState #PoliticalSuppression

#Court
Hong Kong Court Sends Three More Pro-democracy Protesters to Over 5 years in Jail for "Rioting", Causing Public Grievances

On September 25, 2021, the district court convicted three pro-democracy protesters of "rioting" during the police siege of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University (#PolyU) in November 2019. The three young people were arrested during clashes in nearby Jordan as citizens attempted to break the police siege. They are sentenced to jail terms ranging from 5 years to 5 years and 8 months.

The defendants were calm when hearing the sentence. When the court adjourned, pro-democracy supporters waved to them and said, "hang on!". Some shout to the court, "there are no rioters, only tyranny!" and "Shame!"

Meanwhile, the mother of the principle defendant wept, shouting "unfair", "killing the innocent" and "my son is not guilty!" She continued to cry and almost collapsed in the corridor.

The families of other defendants tried to console her, pointing out that her son would be saddened seeing his mother in such a state: "We have to go through this together. We understand. It is not like we do not feel anything".

Many people in the courtroom broke into tears, mourning their fellow pro-democracy Hongkongers.

Source: InMedia #Sept25

https://bit.ly/3F0M15Z
#PoliticalProsecution #Rioting #PolyUSiege #HongkongProtesters #Solidarity

HK Documentary about #PolyUSiege Wins Grand Prize at International Documentary Festival in Japan

Source: Citizen News #Oct13

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HK Documentary about #PolyUSiege Wins Grand Prize at International Documentary Festival in Japan

The documentary "Inside the Red Brick Wall", chronicling the 13-day police siege of #PolyU during the #AntiELAB movement, has won the grand prize at Japan's #Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival. This honor has never been won by a Hong Kong film in its three-decade history, until now.

The film was selected as the best Hong Kong film of 2020 by the Hong Kong Film Critics Society. However, it had been shunned by local cinemas after pro-government media labeled it anti-police and anti-government. Its premiere was cancelled only hours before its showing by the hosting cinema.

The panel of judges noted that the documentary showed citizens and students being trapped by the police inside Polytechnic University; it documented the reality of youngsters, including minors, as they faced these dire circumstances, whether or not they had food. Live footage also showed photographers being fired upon within the campus

[editor's note: according to statistics from Hong Kong Journalists Association, 3 journalists had been shot with pepper balls at close range].

The film itself carries historical significance.

The film's directors, listed as "Hong Kong Documentary Filmmakers", thanked the organizers through a pre-recorded video. They said that under Hong Kong's current oppressive environment, they must regroup and be formless like water, but believed that "we'll walk together again".

"To all who believe in freedom", they added, "The only response to oppression is resistance. We will keep moving, and keep on filming."

Source: Citizen News #Oct13
https://bit.ly/3awuc0v

#Film #Documentary #Resistance #ProtestArt #FilmFestival

#PoliceState
IPCC Said Nothing Wrong with Hong Kong Police Shooting Journist without Warning during #PolyUSiege

Source: Stand News #Nov9

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#PoliceState
IPCC Said Nothing Wrong with Hong Kong Police Shooting Journist without Warning during #PolyUSiege

During the Anti-ELAB movement on November 18, 2019, pro-democracy protesters trapped in the Hong Kong Polytechnic University (#PolyU) attempted to break through the cordon line; however, the police outflanked them by splitting into 3 routes.

When a journalist from #StandNews was interviewing an arrestee, whose face was covered with blood, a sheriff from the Z4 Police Tactic Unit (#PTU) suddenly shot a #PepperBalls to the journalist's feet without warning.

Two years later, the Complaints Against Police Office (#CAPO) ruled that there was "nothing wrong" and the Independent Police Complaints Council (#IPCC) agreed with the classification.

CAPO replied in a letter regarding the case, claiming that police did not have a choice but to shoot the pepper balls and apply a minimum level of violence to disperse the crowd. The letter said that the aim was to "protect the police and the arrestees" and the reason was that "someone was non-stop chasing after the police" and "the police has asked people on site to leave, but they ignored".

There is a footnote in the letter, claiming that there is either a "misunderstanding," or "sufficient evidence showing the fairness and rationality of the actions carried out under #PoliceForceOrdinance."

Source: Stand News #Nov09
https://thestandnews.page.link/ZaikSY3mthxbyaVcA

#PoliceBrutality #PressFreedom #Journalist

#PTSD #Exile
2 Years Since #PolyUSiege: Pro-Democracy Protester who Fled Hong Kong Missed Relative's Funeral, Fears Retribution from #Regime

#PolyU #PoylUSiege #Trauma #HKPoliceState

Source: In-Media HK; #Nov20

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#PTSD #Exile
2 Years Since #PolyUSiege: Pro-Democracy Protester who Fled Hong Kong Missed Relative's Funeral, Fears Retribution from #Regime

When "A" (pseudonym) heard that a close relative had passed away earlier this year, she immediately made plans to fly back to Hong Kong for the funeral. She quickly picked an airline and a date for the flight; but when it came to selecting her seat, a sense of dread and anxiety suddenly struck her: "I'm really scared of being arrested."

In the end, she did not take the flight.

"A" was working overseas when the the 2019 #ANTIELAB movement broke out. She was not a frequent participant, and had only taken up back-end support roles when she visited her family in Hong Kong.

In November 2019, she went to Hong Kong Polytechnic University (#PolyU) to support the pro-democracy protesters inside, and was trapped when police laid siege to the campus.

She attempted to escape on two occasions without success; in the end, police took her information, and she was taken away by ambulance.

Afterwards, she returned overseas to work. She had thought that she wasn't affected much by what she experienced.

She never imagined that her fears of retribution would only worsen, rather than fade away over time. "When the time came that I needed to return to Hong Kong, I found out that I was too afraid to do so."

"If a family funeral wasn't enough of a reason to come back, then what else is there in Hong Kong worth coming back for?" "A" had never considered emigration; but now, she knows she could not return to her hometown in the foreseeable future.

She considers herself half an exile, and she could only acquiesce with her predicament: "You can't take back what has happened."

In November 2019, pro-democracy protesters declared a city-wide strike in Hong Kong. Roadblocks were set up across the city, and protesters occupied the PolyU campus in order to blockade the nearby Cross-Harbour Tunnel in Hung Hom.

Police surrounded the camlus from November 17, 2019 on, trapping protesters and citizens alike, and blocking multiple escape attempts by protesters.

Large crowds of civilians answered calls online to "break the siege", advancing towards the university from nearby districts. Police made mass arrests in Tsim Sha Tsui, Hung Hom, and Jordan; over 200 citizens were arrested on rioting charges.

Though many were released without being charged after the maximum 48-hour detention period, some of them are arrested again from their homes by police two years after in 2021.

#PolyU #PoylUSiege #Trauma #HKPoliceState

Source: In-Media HK; #Nov20
Full article: https://bit.ly/3DzVEqO

2 Years After PolyUsiege, 19-year-old HongKongers in Exile: "I Earnestly Want to Return to Hong Kong"

On November 17, 2019, a fierce police-civilian collision broke out at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University (#PolyU). The campus were surrounded by armed police. It is the most tragic fight in the #AntiELAB movement in 2019, carving an indelible wound in countless Hongkongers' hearts.

Two years have passed, a large number of pro-democracy #protesters were subjected to reprisal one after another. As a result, some of them were #exiled #overseas without a returning date, including the 19-year-old Ivan

After escaping from the #PolyUSiege, Ivan, like many young protesters, has been facing the "guilt of survivors" and the unknown future.

"I have been thinking for a long time and finally decided to speak out as I would like to overcomd the fear with everyone," Ivan said.

After s year of exile in the #UK, Ivan chooses to "come out of the closet politically", which is different from when he first arrived.

In the past, he participated in the UK rallies anoymously by donning black. Today, he would not cover his face, rather, he would speak in front of a camera in order to let the world hear their voice.

Ivan said, "I would like to tell the world what we are thinking and what we are doing in a new perspective, as well as the reasons behind, including Why I need to taje it to the street, instead of being a "#HongKongPig" [the one who does not care about politics]?"

So "Hong Kong Pig" went on the street.

Before the movement, Ivan was a "Hong Kong pig", who did not care about the happenings in societyn. But then he chose to protest on the street, entering PolyU campus during the siege, even when he was still a secondary school student.

Ten hours later, he tried to escape from the campus but was arrested.

Although he refused to enter into further bail and was released unconditionally, due to the further reprisal by the Hong Kong Police Force, Ivan had been living in fear before leaving HK.

He then left for the UK with his HKSAR Passport and a single flight ticket on November 5, 2020, going on an exile on his own. At the time of leaving, his parents were also kept in the dark.

He avoids mentioning his family and denies recalling the experiences in the protests, but emphasising "not to get the light spot".

Struggling at the edge of the political #asylum after the exile

Not long after Ivan's departure, the police went to his home to arrest him, accusing him of "perverting the course of public justice".

Just a line to the imprisonment, he becomes a #fugitive at the age of19, struggling to survive alone in a new country.

Source: RFA #Nov17
https://www.rfa.org/cantonese/news/htm/hk-polyu-11172021060537.html

Continue Part 2

#Court
Facing 38 to 40 months in jail, Pro-democracy citizen: I am "honored to be born a Hongkonger"

On January 15, 2022, the District Court in Hong Kong sentenced seven pro-democracy citizens to up to three years and four months in jail. In the same case, two citizens who are under 20 years old are sent to an education center.

All of them were arrested on the street of Kowloon on November 18, 2019, and were convicted of "rioting" near the Hong Kong Polytechnic University (#PolyU) in November 2019. During the police siege of the university campus, thousands of pro-democracy Hongkongers tried to help the entrapped protesters, students, and civilians to escape.

During the trial, the defence counsel recited a letter written by one of the defendants, 24-year-old Tang Kam-Lok. In his letter, Tang cited the French-Algerian author and 1958 Nobel Prize laureate Albert Camus:

"Each generation doubtless feels called upon to reform the world. Mine knows that it will not reform it, but its task is perhaps even greater. It consists in preventing the world from destroying itself."

Tam expressed his belonging to Hong Kong and realised how special Hong Kong was during his studies in the UK. Tam said he is "honored to be born a Hongkonger" and hopes to return "like a phoenix".

After the sentence, families and friends shout in the direction of the defendents, "hang on!" "love you!"

Source: InMediaHK.Net #Jan15
https://bit.ly/3qqOrFA

#Conscience #NeverForget #Phoenix #AlbertCamus #Hongkonger #PolyUSiege