Occupy founder tearfully describes from the dock how he and his comrades parted ways with the movement they started
- Sociologist Chan Kin-man told court students were no longer heeding the advice of older founders, who feared protesters would get hurt
- Escalation of 79-day demonstration led Chan and co-defendants in incitement trial to step back
Emotional testimony from one of the founders of Hong Kong’s 2014 Occupy protests brought a trial to a standstill on Tuesday.
Sociologist Dr Chan Kin-man tearfully talked about his last days in the movement at West Kowloon Court, where nine leaders were on trial for a litany of public nuisance charges over the 79-day pro-democracy protest.
Chan’s emotional outburst prompted Judge Johnny Chan Jong-herng to break for a short adjournment.
Chan said he and his two co-founders – Benny Tai Yiu-ting and Reverend Chu Yiu-ming – had decided to call it a day publicly after what started as a peaceful sit-in became a confrontation with police within two months.
The turning point, he said, was on November 30, when student leaders, also a driving force at the time, escalated the movement. A failed dialogue between the government and the students had led the latter to believe any more talks would be meaningless.
Chan, Tai and Chu met the press and announced their surrender to police on December 3.