Activist voices worries over protest 'weapons'
A pro-democracy protester who was arrested earlier this month for spraying champagne on a central government liaison office security guard fears the police may be treating even the most trivial of protest tools as weapons.
Ip Ho-yee was arrested during a gathering outside the office on October 10 to celebrate the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to mainland dissident Liu Xiaobo. She is currently on bail and has to report back to police on November 29.
Facing a possible common assault charge, Ip has hired a lawyer.
'The police are so nervous at every protest outside the central liaison office. No matter the protest tool is a wooden coffin, tofu or champagne, they seize it and treated the activists who brought them as criminals,' Ip said.
Ip yesterday accompanied activist Yang Kuang to court to hear the verdict in his case. She said Yang's jailing for 14 days left her worried about freedom of expression in Hong Kong. 'Activists I know are not hostile to the police and have no intention of assaulting them. We just want to express our concerns on social issues,' Ip said.
