Hong Kong Law Society Condemns Violence Following Legislature Occupation
Protesters stormed the legislative council chamber as the conflict over an extradition bill took another violent turn.
July 02, 2019 at 02:09 PM
4 minute read
Hong Kong's professional association of solicitors issued a statement on Tuesday denouncing violence that occurred the previous night, when a group of protesters broke into the legislature building, smashing glass walls and spray-painting slogans in the inner chamber.
"The Law Society [of Hong Kong] strongly condemns the violent siege of the Legislative Council building on July 1, 2019 by some protesters who attacked the police and vandalised public property," the organisation wrote in a statement.
Monday marked the 22nd anniversary of the handing over of Hong Kong's sovereignty to China from Britain. Handover Day commemorations typically feature mass demonstrations, with participation by people from all walks of life airing a variety of grievances. But Monday's protest differs from previous ones, as it was the latest in a series of rallies attempting to stop the government from allowing criminal extraditions to China.
Earlier in June, more than a million people took to the streets protesting against a proposed amendment of the city's Fugitive Offenders Ordinance. The government eventually backed down and agreed to suspend the bill, but it didn't cancel the bill as protesters had demanded. Meanwhile, one of the protests turned violent on June 12 when the government sent out riot police and used force against protesters, mostly students. The government also referred to the June 12 confrontation as a riot – a term strongly disputed by protest organisers, who maintained that the demonstration was peaceful.
On Monday, as the vast majority of Handover Day protesters marched peacefully – more than 550,000 people, according to organiser the Civil Human Rights Front – a small group of more radical protesters broke into the Legislative Council building and occupied the main chamber of the city's legislature.
The protesters insisted they had exhausted other forms of dissent and the government had refused to respond to their demands, which included that Chief Executive Carrie Lam step down and that the government fully withdraw the extradition bill, rescind the riot label of June 12 protesters, investigate police brutality, and release arrested protests.
Meanwhile, three deaths have occurred related to the protests since the controversy erupted in early June. All three were suicides.
While the rights to freedom of speech, assembly, procession and demonstration are protected in Hong Kong, the Law Society said: "Open defiance of the law by those protesters who broke into the Legislative Council building by force, inflicted bodily harm on others and caused serious criminal damage to the building, is to be deplored as an affront to the Rule of Law."
The Law Society also issued a statement against violence on June 13, calling the conflicts "sad and regrettable" but didn't name the police in the statement.
Lam and the government also condemned the storming of the Legislative Council building. Others, including many pro-democracy camp lawmakers, said the government was to blame for forcing people to take this action as a last resort.
The Law Society said it encourages the government and members of the public to "respect others, work together, restore trust and confidence, and move forward".
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