Hong Kong police make first arrests under new anti-mask law as at least 13 anti-government protesters are taken into custody
- Senior force insider says two men were picked up in Tai Po for refusing to remove their masks
- Almost all of those arrested were also suspected of engaging in unlawful assembly
At least 13 Hong Kong protesters have been arrested for concealing their faces at public assemblies since the anti-mask law came into force at midnight on Friday.
The arrests came as the city’s embattled police force courted controversy for entering Chinese University’s campus, allegedly without the school’s consent, in the early hours of Sunday and searching five students who were putting up protest-related posters.
Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor earlier invoked the colonial-era Emergency Regulations Ordinance to enact a ban on masks at all rallies – regardless of whether the events were lawful or unauthorised – in a bid to curb the social unrest which is approaching its fifth month.
But the ban has only intensified the outrage and sparked three straight days of protests and vandalism.
A senior police insider confirmed at least 13 protesters had been arrested on Saturday for violating the new law, and most were also arrested for engaging in an unlawful assembly.
The Post was told the first arrest was made at around 10pm in Tai Po where two men, suspected of taking part in an unauthorised assembly, refused to remove their masks when asked to do so.