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A man pushes a handcart at a protest site in Mong Kok. Police have accused protesters of using children as "human shields". Photo: K.Y. Cheng

Hong Kong's High Court orders protesters off roads in Mong Kok and Admiralty

Judge demands clearing of some areas in Mong Kok and Admiralty as government and students prepare for long-awaited dialogue

The High Court yesterday ordered pro-democracy protesters to leave main roads in Admiralty and Mong Kok immediately, as top officials and student leaders prepared for tonight's talks on political reform.

In response, one protester today said he was applying for legal aid to allow lawyers to represent him as an "interested party" in a fresh court hearing, in which he plans to argue the injunction goes against Hongkongers' freedom of expression.

Ng Ting-pong, 38, who quit his job as a waiter to spend the last 20 days at the Mong Kok protest site, was expecting to learn by Wednesday whether his application was successful, according to People's Power lawmaker Albert Chan Wai-yip who is aiding him.

Last night a government source said the administration had recognised it was unrealistic to try to disperse protesters by force and that officials expected demonstrations to continue for at least another month.

However, in an interview with , Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying hinted at possible intervention by the central government if the situation remained unresolved.

"So far Beijing has left it to the Hong Kong government to deal with the situation, so I think we should try our very best … to stay that way," he was quoted as saying. "Challenging myself, challenging the Hong Kong government, at these difficult times will do no one any service, will do Hong Kong's high degree of autonomy no service."

The Court of First Instance yesterday granted three injunctions - two for Mong Kok and one for Admiralty - requiring the protesters to leave.

Granting the Mong Kok orders, Mr Justice Jeremy Poon Shiu-chor agreed that "the defendants' behaviour in the demonstration has caused obstruction … exceeding the boundary of what is reasonable in light of the length of the demonstration, the extent of the demonstration and the increasingly violent confrontation between the protesters and the police."

The orders, for portions of Nathan Road between Argyle Street and Dundas Street, and Argyle Street westbound between Tung Choi Street and Portland Street, had been sought by taxi operators and a minibus company.

The Admiralty injunction, sought by the owners of Citic Tower, requires protesters to clear emergency vehicle exits and the car park entrance of the building at the junction of Tim Mei Avenue and Lung Wui Road, next to the government headquarters. Poon said: "The court is not a forum where political views are vindicated or argued. The court is only to apply the law and to uphold the rule of law."

Meanwhile, parties to today's talks, due to start at 6pm, were considering a key demand of the protesters that the government submit "supplementary information" to the national legislature to reflect events since late August when it set the framework for the 2017 chief executive election that sparked the protests.

At the beginning of the televised talks at the Academy of Medicine in Aberdeen, Chief Secretary Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor and a Federation of Students representative will give five-minute opening remarks. There will be a 90-minute discussion before the meeting ends with 10-minute closing remarks from each side.

The federation's secretary general, Alex Chow Yong-kang, expected the talks to focus on political reform, although the police's reaction to the protests, including the use of tear gas and pepper spray, would be difficult to avoid, he said.

Academics were speculating, meanwhile, whether the Communist Party Central Committee's plenum that opened yesterday in Beijing would touch on the Hong Kong protests.

Ye Haibo , a law professor from Shenzhen University, said the issue might be brought up, stressing that the city's political reform had to be in line with the Basic Law and the decision by the National People's Congress Standing Committee.

But Chen Xinxin , a legal affairs expert at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said the issue was unlikely to be discussed. "There is no need to set new rules to solve the problems facing Hong Kong. "

Also yesterday, the US consulate rejected an assertion that forces in foreign countries had instigated the protests. "We categorically reject accusations that we are manipulating the activities of any person, group or political party in Hong Kong," it said.

On Tuesday, the anti-Occupy Alliance for Peace and Democracy presented 10 people it said represented different sectors affected by the pro-democracy protests.

Aston Wong runs an accountancy firm close to Shan Tung Street in Mong Kok. He said that half of the firm's workload had to be outsourced as staff were refusing to work overtime, citing safety concerns. “It is now the peak season for tax declaration and my employees usually have to work overtime until 9pm. Now they have to leave between 5pm and 6pm as many of them are worried about the safety," Wong said.

"The protest site nearby got very chaotic, noisy and violent [at night],” he said, adding that the outsourced work was costing the firm HK$1,200 each day. 

Chan Kam-wing from the Federation of Hong Kong, Kowloon, New Territories Hawkers Associations said hawkers working close to occupied areas had lost about 70 per cent of their usual daily business. Those operating further away have experienced 40 to 50 per cent business loss as there has been fewer tourists, Chan said.

Stanley Ng Chau-pei of the alliance said the injunction issued by the High Court was a great encouragement to those effected by the protests.

 

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: High Court orders protesters off roads
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