Occupy Central camp in Admiralty goes down quietly as police move in
No resistance as workers backed by 7,000 police clear out community that lasted 75 days, and hardcore protesters wait patiently to be arrested
The occupied site in Admiralty was cleared without resistance or any visible scuffles yesterday in a police operation that was described by a watchdog as "smooth and peaceful".
Last night, authorities were still working to return blocked roads to the way they were in late September before the "umbrella movement" for democracy erupted.
The colourful tents that once lined Harcourt Road - the busiest in the city centre - the creative banners and artworks that enlivened the space, the assorted chairs and beds, and the people who were behind it all - were gone after a day-long operation by police and bailiffs.
Among items torn down was a banner newly erected on road barriers that read: "It's just the beginning". Protesters released balloons lifting a banner that read: "We'll be back".
Unlike the first clearance of Occupy, launched in Mong Kok last month, the Admiralty operation went ahead without brawls or bloodshed.
As many as 7,000 police officers were reportedly deployed yesterday.
Chief Secretary Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor praised the police action for its "high-level transparency" that would avoid any "misunderstanding" or "smearing".
Lam Tai-fai, lawmaker and vice-chairman of the Independent Police Complaints Council, also said the peaceful turn of events meant a "soft landing" for the end of the Occupy action.
"[We saw] no clashes, not even verbal arguments between police and protesters," he said. "Overall, it was peaceful and all had been restrained. We are glad to see the way it ended."
Lawmaker Helena Wong Pik-wan, who was in Admiralty with Lam Tai-fai from 8am, also said she felt protesters were given enough time to pack and leave.
But arrests of protesters who refused to budge did not end until 9.10pm. A total of 247 people were arrested.
Many had pledged to take full responsibility for their civil disobedience in the fight for democracy. Seven hours before the arrests began at 4.20pm, all were already seated calmly, chatting and laughing with one another from time to time.
The first to be arrested was believed to be a female student. Female officers read her the legal rights before carrying her away.
Political heavyweights Martin Lee Chu-ming and Audrey Eu Yuet-mee also lingered around for the arrests, as did celebrity singer Denise Ho Wan-see, pan-democratic lawmakers and student leaders.
Ho led the crowd in chanting: "Civil disobedience, we are fearless!" Unlike the other people arrested, she refused to be lifted off her feet, walking instead to a police car with two officers amid cheers from the crowd.
The clearance ended the 75-day lifespan of a vibrant community equipped with a supply station, study area, workshop and first-aid centre.
The operation started officially at 9am, when about 50 workers, several bailiffs and lawyer Paul Tse Wai-chun - representing company All China Express - descended on the site and notified protesters about their enforcement of a High Court injunction granted to the cross-border bus operator.
Tse warned protesters that resistance would leave them liable to contempt of court.
The workers then started the demolition process, breaking the cement that glued barriers to the road surface at four locations.
It took much longer than expected for the bailiffs to finish clearing the areas covered by the court order - Connaught Road Central, Harcourt Road and Cotton Tree Drive - by which time it was about 1pm.
Police then took charge of clearing the remaining four-fifths of the occupied site.
Senior superintendent Patrick Kwok Pak-chung issued an ultimatum for the remaining occupiers to leave before officers sealed off the area - from the Academy for Performing Arts to Connaught Road Central next to the Hong Kong Club - at 2.20pm.
More than 900 people who left voluntarily after that time - via a designated exit at Tim Mei Avenue - had to give their personal details to police for possible prosecution later.
At 2.20pm, uniformed officers began to march towards the core occupied area of Harcourt Road from the directions of Wan Chai, Central and Tim Mei Avenue. None of the men were heavily equipped, except for a special squad tasked with dismantling the more complicated barriers.
The only resistance they met was from a man who refused to budge from the Harcourt Road flyover. He was arrested and his hands bound with plastic ties.
Everything that the protesters once treasured, but was in the way of the officers, was eventually crane-lifted onto trucks. At one point last night, at least 10 trucks were working to remove the materials.
Police toppled a three-metre-long yellow umbrella installation - the symbol of the movement - and used saws and cutters to break it up into pieces.
And in just a few minutes, a supply station and workshop that was once covered by another yellow umbrella was reduced to a pile of debris.
As the officers walked towards the bridge next to the Admiralty Centre, they shoved aside abandoned tents, upturned desks and chairs and threw away anything left unattended.
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