Hong Kong protests: police issued 18 penalty tickets for breach of social-distancing rules over Labour Day demonstrations
- Force says pepper-spray incident in Sha Tin mall occurred after officers’ warnings to protesters proved ineffective
- Police say protesters also set up a roadblock on Friday in Wong Tai Sin
Police handed out 18 penalty tickets for breach of social-distancing rules in Hong Kong on Labour Day as workers’ rights activists and anti-government protesters set up street booths and singalong demonstrations in a mall.
Eleven of the tickets were issued at New Town Plaza in Sha Tin, where more than 100 protesters gathered on Friday to sing Glory to Hong Kong, the movement’s anthem.
Demonstrators were challenging the need to keep social-distancing measures in place, calling it a form of suppression amid a slowdown in the pace of new coronavirus cases locally. But health authorities warned that such events presented infection risks.
Apart from the gathering, protesters also put up water barricades as roadblocks in Wong Tai Sin shortly after noon on Friday, according to a police statement.
A 26-year-old man was arrested in that district for disorder in a public place and possession of offensive weapons, after officers said they found a cutter, pliers and an electronic saw on him.
The government banned public gatherings of more than four people and imposed a fine of at least HK$2,000 (US$258) on offenders in late March, when the city was hit hard by the pandemic.
The health scare brought anti-government protests, which broke last June, to a halt earlier this year.