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Coronavirus: police arrest 54 at Hong Kong Prince Edward protest, but none over social-distancing rules
- Lawyers accuse officers of abusing the public health crisis by having the metal strips removed from detained demonstrators’ surgical masks
- Meanwhile, restaurateurs say the force is using new anti-epidemic rules for political purposes
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Hong Kong police arrested 54 people during a protest in Kowloon on Tuesday night, though none of them fell foul of rules on public gatherings brought in amid the coronavirus epidemic.
A resident as young as 12 was among those detained.
But some lawyers and legislators on Wednesday accused officers of nonetheless abusing the public health crisis, by having the metal strips removed from arrested demonstrators’ surgical masks, saying they were dangerous.
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From Sunday, groups of more than four have been banned in public, as the city tries to curb the spread of Covid-19, which by Wednesday had infected 765 people locally, with four related deaths.
The practicality of the measures was tested when anti-government protesters gathered at Prince Edward MTR station to mark seven months since a controversial clearance operation there, during intense unrest which has gripped the city since June last year. Rumours have led some to believe police killed protesters during a clearance operation at the station on August 31 last year, despite repeated official denials and a lack of any evidence.
Many demonstrators on Tuesday left after leaving floral tributes at the station, while others gathered and hurled abuse at police. Officers warned those present that they were part of an unlawful assembly, before the more than 50 arrests.
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