POST OCCUPY CENTRAL - DAY 28 (12-01-2015)

Occupy Central

Occupy Central is a civil disobedience movement which began in Hong Kong on September 28, 2014. It calls on thousands of protesters to block roads and paralyse Hong Kong's financial district if the Beijing and Hong Kong governments do not agree to implement universal suffrage for the chief executive election in 2017 and the Legislative Council elections in 2020 according to "international standards." The movement was initiated by Benny Tai Yiu-ting (戴耀廷), an associate professor of law at the University of Hong Kong, in January 2013.

Umbrella Movement

The Umbrella Movement (Chinese: 雨傘運動; pinyin: yǔsǎn yùndòng) is a loose political movement that was created spontaneously during the Hong Kong protests of 2014. Its name derives from the recognition of the umbrella as a symbol of defiance and resistance against the Hong Kong government, and the united grass-roots objection to the decision of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPCSC) of 31 August.

The movement consists of individuals numbering in the tens of thousands who participated in the protests that began on 28 September 2014, although Scholarism, the Hong Kong Federation of Students, Occupy Central with Love and Peace,  groups are principally driving the demands for the rescission of the NPCSC decision.

Occupy Central site in Causeway Bay was cleared as police moved in  ...

POST OCCUPY CENTRAL - DAY 28: 

Full coverage of the day’s events

Police won't seek protection order for Hong Kong teen arrested during Occupy clearance

The police have called off their bid to apply for a child protection order for a 14-year-old boy arrested during the Occupy Mong Kok clearance operation, weeks after their attempts to separate another underage activist from her legal custodian were called into question.

The teenage boy, whose name cannot be revealed due to his age, was not required to appear at Fanling Court yesterday morning after his solicitor Patricia Ho wrote to the magistracy to call off the originally scheduled hearing.

This came after the Department of Justice announced last week that it had no interest in pressing a charge of contempt of court against the boy.

A care and protection order is usually used for children in dangerous circumstances, such as those facing the risk of drug addiction or abuse. It could lead to the removal of the boy from his parents' care.

"I welcome the decision … because if it's dragged on it would only cost more of my time and money," the boy told the South China Morning Post. He called the order a "scare tactic" and "political prosecution".

The department said that, given the evidence and the decision to dispose of the case, "a care and protection order was no longer necessary and hence it was withdrawn".

While welcoming the withdrawal, the solicitor also berated the department for even considering seeking the order: "All along I saw no basis in the application."

The police have recently come under intense fire after they attempted to seek the same type of order, usually used on delinquent teens, for a 14-year-old who has come to be known as the "chalk girl".

The minor, also represented by Ho, gained her moniker by chalking a flower on the so-called Lennon Wall, where protesters posted colourful memos with uplifting messages during the 79-day pro-democracy movement in Admiralty.

She was detained for two days at a children's home late last month, after her bail application was turned down at Tuen Mun Court. The High Court later overturned the lower court's ruling, allowing her to be released on bail.

The boy's order came a month prior to the chalk girl, though it received little attention when he was brought before Eastern Court two days after his arrest.

Ho, who previously called the ruling "disproportionate", noted that both youngsters were never charged.

But a document police gave the boy indicated that he might yet face a lesser charge of obstructing a public officer.

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as 'No care order'

Organisers of Hong Kong's February 1 democracy rally say they're open to new sit-ins afterwards

Another pro-democracy sit-in could take place again as soon as February 1 - organisers of a pro-democracy march that day say they will "work closely" with any group that has such a plan in mind.

Civil Human Rights Front convenor Daisy Chan Sin-ying is expecting 50,000 people to march from Victoria Park in Causeway Bay, to Chater Road in Central, on February 1, less than two months after the 79-day protests ended.

The marchers will call for local and central authorities to allow "genuine universal suffrage" in Hong Kong, and to shelve Beijing's ruling last August. That's the decision in which the central government announced the people of Hong Kong could elect their leader in 2017, but only from candidates approved by a nominating committee likely to be full of Beijing's supporters.

Chan said the march would start at 2pm, and a rally on Chater Road would end by midnight.

"We have no plan to stay behind … and we have yet to hear from any organisation that has such an idea," Chan said. "But we are psychologically prepared … and we will also work closely with any political group that tells us about their plan."

Chan also called for participants to bring their umbrellas, which the Occupy movement has adopted as its symbol.

On January 1 last year, the front put the number of participants in their annual march at 30,000. Police said there were 11,000. This year's annual New Year's Day march was pushed back by a month to coincide with the second round of public consultation on democratic reform.

Yesterday, Civic Party vice-chairwoman and former legislator Tanya Chan was arrested when she arrived at police headquarters - at the request of the police - on suspicion of instigating others to take part in an unauthorised assembly.

She was the first key figure of the Occupy movement to have been arrested following the mass sit-ins. She was released at 9pm after refusing bail but police said they retained the right to prosecute her. More than 20 other activists have been told to report to Wan Chai police station in the next two weeks.

Chan said she had been prepared to be arrested and detained for up to 48 hours.

A host of pan-democrats including Civic Party leader Alan Leong, League of Social Democrats' "Long Hair" Leung Kwok-hung and Occupy Central co-founder Reverend Chu Yiu-ming showed up outside the police headquarters yesterday in support of Chan.

The other activists expected to follow Chan include all three Occupy founders, Benny Tai Yiu-ting, Dr Chan Kin-man and Chu, as well as media mogul Jimmy Lai Chee-ying, publisher of Apple Daily. They have all been told to report to the station between January 21 and 24.

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as Activists open to new sit-ins after next democracy rally

Pan-dems condemn attack as 'white terror'


Pan-democratic legislators have condemned petrol bomb attacks on the home of Apple Daily founder Jimmy Lai Chee-ying and the Next Media office.

They said the use of force was a means to try to silence the media and create "white terror".

Lai, founder of Apple Daily newspaper, has become a target recently over his support for the pro-democracy Occupy movement.


Civic Party leader Alan Leong Kah-kisaid it is most regrettable incident. --RTHK   

No political bias in prosecution: Rimsky Yuen

The Department of Justice would never allow prosecution to be used as a political instrument, Secretary for Justice Rimsky Yuen Kwok Keung said.

He was speaking at the opening of the legal year, on how authorities will deal with the people who were involved in the "Occupy Movement" -- a question he expects will attract huge differences of opinions.


He said the department will not take into account the suspects' social status, their political affiliations or views -- adding that any decision will only be made on the basis of law, evidence and the public interest.



Tanya Chan 'arrested' for Occupy Movement

Former lawmaker Tanya Chan Suk-chong says she's been arrested after going to police headquarters upon request to assist in connection with illegal assembly.

The Civic Party member surrendered along with other leaders of the Occupy movement last month and was released unconditionally.


Several leaders of the civil disobedience action are due to report back to the police later this week. 



'Violence will not be tolerated'

The Secretary for Justice, Rimsky Yuen Kwok-keung, said the administration would not tolerate any acts of violence in the territory, regardless of potential differences in political stance.

He was speaking after firebomb attacks on the home of media tycoon, Jimmy Lai Chee-ying, and the offices of his Next Media group.


He stressed the police would investigate the case, and believes the Department of Justice will carry out prosecution when there is sufficient evidence.



`Post-umbrella era' starts with rally

About 50,000 are expected to join a February 1 rally for universal suffrage as the post-Umbrella Movement era begins, organizer Civil Human Rights Front said.
The walk from Victoria Park will end at the Chater Road pedestrian zone, where protesters may lie down depending on the situation, group convener Daisy Chan Sin-ying said.


Chan said the rally is only a beginning for the post-Umbrella Movement era. "During this new stage, the government issued a public sentiment report and launched the second round of political consultation. But the report did not reflect public opinion ... it even pushed the responsibility to the pan democrats," she said.

"In the new beginning of the post-Umbrella Movement, we will show our determination for genuine universal suffrage in the February 1 rally."

Chan explained that the sentiment report, submitted to the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office in Beijing, does not give reasons for or provide analysis of the 79-day movement, which ended on December 14.

She said it is not a comprehensive report.

She said the rally aims to pressure the SAR government into relaunching the "five-step" process for the 2017 chief executive elections.

She also said the August 31 framework by tne NPC Standing Committee is still a small group election that prescreens two to three candidates.

They called on the central government to withdraw the framework.

Chan said although they have no plans to sit in the pedestrian zone at the end of the rally, she said they are "mentally prepared" for civil disobedience action as they were when they cooperated with the Federation of Students during the July 1 handover rally last year.

The front will hold the rally with other pro-democracy groups such as the Democratic Party, Civic Party and Labour Party.

In the past, the front applied to the police for complete closure of six lanes on Hennessy Road, but this time they only applied for a three-lane closure.


A police spokesman confirmed they have received the application from the front and that there is a mechanism to handle such applications.