"Where were the policemen? The Hong Kong outcry after the attack of masked thugs | News from the world

Hong Kong activists and pro-democracy legislators have accused the police of being there as men dressed in white attacked commuters Sunday night, leaving dozens of hospitalized and seriously wounded.

Hong Kong media video footage showed dozens of men, some with black masks, storming a subway station and striking pbadengers indiscriminately with wooden sticks. Among those injured during the Yuen Long attack, there were protesters returning from a large anti-government rally, as well as a pregnant woman and a woman holding a baby, according to witnesses.

The video was taken Sunday by hundreds of thousands of people marched Sunday in chaos, as police and protesters fought as riot police fired tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse protesters.

A woman sobbed as she recounted what happened during the Yuen Long attack, telling an audio witness broadcast online: "They beat people in the car, without distinction, even those who were coming back from work … Some men were protecting us. They did not defeat us otherwise we would have been beaten even worse. They even beat women and children.

The video filmed inside the train showed screaming and crying pbadengers as they tried to protect themselves with umbrellas while several men wielding wooden rods attacked people in the car. Other pictures show pbadengers bleeding and blood stains on the floor of the train station.

When the police arrived at the station after 23 hours, the attackers were gone and angry protesters asked why they had taken so long to get there. The Hong Kong Hospital Authority said 45 people aged between 18 and 64 were injured in the attack, including one man in critical condition. Four men and one woman were in serious condition.

On Monday morning, activists sharply criticized the police. An opposition party MP, Democracy, said his party was investigating the potential involvement of organized crime.

"Does Hong Kong now allow triads to do what they want, smuggling people with weapons in the street?" Asked the reporters the Democratic Party legislator Lam Cheuk-ting, who was among The wounded.

Ray Chan, the lawmaker in favor of democracy, tweeted: "Hong Kong has one of the highest police rates in the world. Where was @hkpoliceforce? "

Activists believe gangsters have been hired in previous pro-democracy demonstrations in 2014, possibly in southern China, where local authorities have hired men to intimidate residents or petitioners.

Police, who entered a village near the Yuen Long police station where groups of white men had gathered Monday morning, said they had seen no weapons.

"We have not made any arrests because we can not be certain of the people involved," said Yau Nai-keung, deputy commander of Yuen Long District. "Even those who are dressed in white, that does not mean that they are involved, we will treat each case fairly, regardless of their political side."

The Hong Kong government condemned the violence in a statement, confirming that "some people" had attacked commuters on the station platform and in the train compartments. "This resulted in clashes and injuries. the [government] strongly condemns all violence and will take serious coercive measures. "

Sunday's violence marks the latest turmoil in Hong Kong, where mbad protests have been held for seven consecutive weeks, often resulting in clashes.

The protests, which began with a controversial extradition bill that would allow suspects in Hong Kong, have prompted more and more demands, including an investigation into police behavior. Observers believe that the violence in Yuen Long and the police response are likely to be the subject of another demonstration.

On Sunday, thousands of protesters participating in a peaceful march against the government defied the police-sanctioned road and headed west to Beijing's representation in Hong Kong, where they graffit the streets. walls of the building, thrown eggs and disfigured the emblem of the People's Republic. from China.

Wang Zhimin, director of the Beijing Liaison Office, said in front of the building: "We strongly condemn the illegal mob that seriously undermines the valuable spirit of the law in Hong Kong, has undermined the fundamental interests of the people and has brought seriously undermining justice, the feelings of the entire Chinese people. "

Chinese state media also suppressed Monday's protests on Sunday, calling the Liaison Office attack "blatant challenge to the central government," calling such violent acts the evidence of "crowds and forces that them." behind. "

The protests challenge Beijing 's authority over the former British colony, which returned to Chinese control in 1997. Under one of the two countries, Hong Kong is expected to maintain a high degree of integrity. autonomy from the continent, with an independent judiciary and a free press. . Critics say, however, that they have witnessed the rapid disappearance of Hong Kong's freedoms.

Among the protesters' demands are democratic reforms that would give Hong Kongers the opportunity to directly elect their leaders. The protest groups have promised to continue until their demands are met.

"I do not see that end. It seems that the situation will get worse … it becomes almost ungovernable, "said Victoria Hui, a political scientist in Hong Kong, currently at Notre Dame University.