Options running out for last Hong Kong protesters trapped in PolyU campus but some radicals would rather ‘die than surrender’
- Those inside say people have become wary of one another and avoid moving in big groups
- Some insist they were not part of mob attacks and do not deserve to be arrested for rioting
The Polytechnic University campus in Hung Hom was quiet on Wednesday, nothing at all like the protest stronghold from which masked radicals kept up fierce pitched battles with police on Sunday, hurling petrol bombs and setting an armoured vehicle ablaze.
Only about 100 remained on campus, after more than 1,000 escaped, surrendered, had their details recorded or were caught and arrested.
Some of those still holding out, refusing to heed police orders to vacate, said they now worked in smaller groups, unlike earlier, when radicals and their supporters tried getting away in bigger numbers.
“We tried to escape together in a big group at first, but that did not work,” said a 24-year-old construction worker, who only identified himself as K.
He was referring to Monday’s multiple attempts by protesters to escape. Most ended up arrested or forced to retreat, after police manning every exit of the university fired tear gas at them.
Police had urged them all to come out, warning that those who remained inside could face arrest for rioting, an offence punishable by 10 years’ jail.
K said those still inside had abandoned their earlier strategy of trying to escape in large groups of dozens or more, and now worked in “squads” of four or five.