Hong Kong protesters launch series of legal challenges and ask city’s judges to remove riot label from early clashes with police

Civil Human Rights Front leader Jimmy Sham and protester Yeung Kwok-ming want use of tear gas on June 12 declared unconstitutional

Teacher Yeung Tsz-chun also files judicial challenge over elite officers’ failure to display identification numbers

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Two protesters run from a cloud of tear gas on Harcourt Road in Admiralty during clashes with police on June 12. Photo: Sam Tsang

Published: 9:45am, 13 Sep 2019Updated: 11:42am, 13 Sep 2019

Anti-government protesters have taken their fight to Hong Kong’s courts, filing multiple legal challenges and damages claims, and asking the city’s judges to strike down the classification of one major protest as a riot.

On Thursday, Jimmy Sham Tsz-kit, convenor of the Civil Human Rights Front, launched a judicial review alongside protester Yeung Kwok-ming, and asked the High Court to declare the use of tear gas by police at a protest on June 12 unconstitutional.

That day, what started as a peaceful, police-approved sit-in outside the Legislative Council descended into a violent confrontation between officers and protesters, who had flocked to Admiralty to oppose the second reading of the government’s extradition bill, which had already triggered what would grow into three months of chaos and civil unrest.

Police fired tear gas after some protesters started charging, and issued a prohibition on the grounds that it had turned into a riot.

Jimmy Sham asked the High Court to declare the use of tear gas at a protest on June 12 unconstitutional. Photo: Dickson Lee

According to their court filing, Sham and Yeung want the court to void the prohibition, in effect overturning the police’s decision to call it a riot – one of the five demands protesters have.

Hong Kong protesters launch series of legal challenges and ask city’s judges to remove riot label from early clashes with police

Civil Human Rights Front leader Jimmy Sham and protester Yeung Kwok-ming want use of tear gas on June 12 declared unconstitutional Teacher Yeung Tsz-chun also files judicial challenge over elite officers’ failure to display identification numbers

Civil Human Rights Front leader Jimmy Sham and protester Yeung Kwok-ming want use of tear gas on June 12 declared unconstitutional

Teacher Yeung Tsz-chun also files judicial challenge over elite officers’ failure to display identification numbers