Police conduct stop-and-search around Prince Edward MTR, 5 years after 2019 incident, 1 man taken away
Hong Kong Free Press
Hong Kong police conducted stop-and-search around Prince Edward on Saturday, the fifth anniversary of an incident inside the district’s MTR station during the 2019 protests. One man was taken away by officers.
On August 31, 2019, baton-wielding riot police stormed Prince Edward MTR station following hours of protest clashes. Officers were filmed pepper-spraying people in carriages as they drove away reporters and medics. Discrepancies in official records of injuries and the closure of the station fuelled unverified rumours of civilian deaths. The police watchdog largely cleared the Force of wrongdoing but faced criticism for lacking independence and investigatory powers.
On Saturday evening, police deployed in large numbers outside the MTR station. Officers stopped and searched multiple people, including a man wearing black who had a tattoo of the word “Hongkonger,” InMedia reported.
Another man was searched twice and eventually taken to the nearby Mong Kok Police Station. The first time he was stopped was when he was crossing a street towards Prince Edward station, and around a dozen police officers approached him to check his Hong Kong identity card and his bag, according to InMedia.
He was then released. Then, holding a while flower, bowed outside Prince Edward station and was swiftly surrounded by police officers again. After searching him for around 10 minutes, officers took him to Mong Kok Police Station.
At around 7.40pm yesterday (August 31),
In response to HKFP, police said that – at 7:40pm on Saturday – a man was found to have acted in a suspicious manner near the MTR station, and was thus brought to a police station for enquiries and a search. He was warned and released on the same evening, they said.
2019 incident
The 2019 incident marked one of the key moments of the protests. The rail company was accused of colluding with police, prompting protesters to vandalise MTR stations and boycott the trains.
After that, pro-democracy supporters marked monthly anniversaries of the incident by leaving white flowers and bowing outside the MTR station. More than a year after the incident, some supporters still gathered by the station on the last day of the month as a sign of protest.
Such demonstrations, however, have dried up since police began more heavy-handed enforcement of the Beijing-imposed national security law.
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