Hong Kong rail operator ordered to release police protest footage

MTR

18/03/2020 08:46

By Jessie Pang
    HONG KONG, March 18 (Reuters) - A Hong Kong court on
Wednesday ordered rail operator MTR Corp  0066.HK  to hand over
CCTV footage from a police operation at two subway stations
during anti-government protests last year that a student leader
plans to use to sue officers. 
    On Aug. 31, scenes filmed by TV reporters of police beating
protesters cowering on the floor of a metro train went viral,
sparking outrage and demands for MTR to release full footage.
    MTR only released some screen shots through a press release.
    The Hong Kong police force maintains it was targeting
violent radicals during the incident in and around the Prince
Edward metro station. Authorities have repeatedly rejected
allegations of police brutality. 
    Defendant Kex Leung, who is student union president at the
Education University, told reporters outside court on Wednesday
he planned to use the footage to sue police over what he said
was his illegal arrest.  
    "This is a small victory. I hope Hong Kongers won't give up.
Although the rule of law has been challenged in the past couple
of years, we need to maintain our hope," said Leung, who also
claims he was beaten by officers.
    MTR and the Hong Kong police did not immediately respond to
requests for comment. 
    The footage must be released to the student within 10 days,
according to the High Court ruling.  
    Hong Kong protests escalated in June last year, with some of
the most fierce clashes erupting on Aug. 31, when police fired
tear gas at pro-democracy protesters throwing petrol bombs. 
    The Chinese-ruled city has been relatively calm this year as
it grapples to contain an outbreak of the new coronavirus.
    The student leader, who was arrested for illegal assembly
and later released, said the court ruling did not allow him to
release the footage to the public.
    The protesters are angry about what they see as creeping
Chinese interference in the former British colony, which
returned to China in 1997 under a "one country, two systems"
formula intended to guarantee freedoms not enjoyed on the
mainland.
    China says it is committed to the arrangement and denies
meddling.

 (Additional reporting by Donny Kwok; Writing by Anne Marie
Roantree;
Editing by Andrew Cawthorne)
 ((annemarie.roantree@thomsonreuters.com; +852 97387151; Reuters
Messaging: annemarie.roantree.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))