Hong Kong protests: police warn suspects against fleeing city as 25 rearrested over involvement in November’s siege of PolyU
- With no time limit for certain types of prosecution, charges will be waiting at home no matter how long suspects stay abroad, force warns
- Wednesday morning’s arrests involved group who had declined offer of police bail when originally detained near campus
Hong Kong police have warned criminal suspects not to flee the city via illegal means, as it poses huge risks to their personal safety and they could still face prosecution even if they return decades later.
The force also reiterated that refusing bail offered by police on arrest did not give suspects immunity from liability later on. The remarks came as officers on Wednesday morning rearrested 25 individuals involved in the clash between radical protesters and police outside Polytechnic University on November 18, and suggested more suspects could still be at large.
Of the 135 arrestees, 129 refused offers of police bail – which involves pledging to regularly report to a police station – at the scene, and were released unconditionally at the time. Wednesday’s rearrests came after months of investigation. Together with a pair that was netted last year, police charged 19 men and eight women on Wednesday with taking part in an unlawful assembly.
Do not abscond. If you do so, you will be exposed to very high risk to your personal safety. The accusation and the offences won’t go away
One faced an additional count of possessing an offensive weapon – a laser pointer. They will all appear in court next Wednesday.
“We did not stop our investigation when suspects refused police bail after arrest,” said Tony Ho Chun-tung, senior superintendent of the Organised Crime and Triad Bureau. “We took action when we found enough evidence,”
A few days later, Taiwanese media reported that five other Hong Kong activists had been intercepted by marine authorities from the self-ruled island as they attempted to reach its shores, prompting the Hong Kong government to call on Taipei to return any criminal suspects in its custody.
Ho said he believed some suspects linked to the PolyU siege might have fled the city, but refused to give a number.
“Do not abscond. If you do so, you will be exposed to very high risk to your personal safety. The accusation and the offences won’t go away, because many indictable offences bear no time limit for prosecution,” Ho said. “We will seal the evidence well, even if it’s for a decade or two, and they will face trial when they are netted.”
The siege at the university began on November 17 and lasted until the 29th. Officers sealed the exits and asked all those inside to leave. During the conflict, radical protesters threw petrol bombs, police fired tear gas, an armoured car was set ablaze, and one officer was shot in the leg with an arrow. At least 1,300 people have been arrested in connection with the operation.
