Hongkongers stage peaceful rally to remember those ‘lost’ during anti-government protests
- ‘Grief of us’ rally at Edinburgh Place in Central comes on the heels of protests in shopping malls across the city during Christmas and over weekend
- Hundreds of rallyists remember 2019 as a year of ‘helplessness and sadness’ and vow to continue their fight into the next year
Hundreds of Hongkongers staged a peaceful rally and memorial service for their comrades “lost in anti-government protests” on Monday evening, as they reflected how 2019 was a year of “helplessness and sadness” for the city.
The “Grief of us” rally at Edinburgh Place in Central came on the heels of weekend protests in shopping centres across the city, which resulted in 34 arrests, including a 13-year-old, and ahead of a march by the Civil Human Rights Front on January 1, expected to draw huge crowds.
The demonstrators started the rally at 5.30pm by observing two minutes of silence, while some participants brought white flowers, folded colourful paper doves and signed their names on a memorial board that bore the names of 26 people who, they believed, had died during police operations or killed themselves over the ongoing social unrest.
The protesters continue to believe some people died during police operations even though the government has come out time and again to say no one had been killed in such actions.
Among the names was that of University of Science and Technology student Chow Tsz-lok who suffered severe brain injury after a fall in a Tseung Kwan O car park in November. Police were conducting a crowd clearance operation nearby, with tear gas, and are still investigating the incident.