Riot police deployed after Hong Kong students storm Civic Square outside government HQ
Officers clash with protesters in Admiralty in the early hours of Saturday; police say six arrests made on Friday night
PUBLISHED : Friday, 26 September, 2014, 10:58pm
UPDATED : Saturday, 27 September, 2014, 4:33am
Staff reporters
The dozens of protesters who made it inside Civic Square are now surrounded by police. Photo: Sam Tsang
Riot police clashed with hundreds of protesters outside government headquarters in Admiralty in the early hours of Saturday morning, after students had earlier stormed the building's forecourt, known as "Civic Square".
The chaotic scenes marked the end of the week-long student strike as about 200 protesters broke into the forecourt shortly before 10.30pm on Friday night.
During the final rally of the pro-democracy class boycott, some students forced their way into the forecourt through an unlocked gate while others scaled security fences, as police appeared to be caught by surprise.
Officers used pepper spray to dispel protesters during the mayhem and several people were injured.
In the early hours of Saturday many hundreds of protesters were involved in clashes with riot police armed with batons and shields on the streets outside government headquarters. A group of a dozen police officers was surrounded by demonstrators at one point.
Many protesters held up umbrellas to protect themselves against pepper spray and called on the police to stand down.
In a statement the government expressed "regret" that protesters had forced their way into Civic Square.
Joshua Wong Chi-fung of the student activist group Scholarism was dragged away by police in handcuffs after the initial storming of the forecourt, according to Yvonne Leung Lai-kwok, president of the University of Hong Kong's students' union.
Police use pepper spray to disperse protesters. Photo: SCMP Pictures
Leung said several members of the Federation of Students, the organisers of the class boycott, were inside the square, including student leaders Alex Chow Yong-kang and Lester Shum. Activist Willis Ho was also handcuffed and taken away by police, Leung said.
Lawmaker "Long Hair" Leung Kwok-hung was among the group that broke into the forecourt, according to the federation.
At 2.15am on Saturday police confirmed that five men and one woman aged 16 to 29 had been arrested on Friday night. Many of the demonstrators inside the square had been allowed to leave early on Saturday morning after their personal details were taken.
Earlier, students chanted “Open the gates” as they stormed the forecourt, a popular protest spot that the government limited access to in July. Three-metre fences had been erected around the square and access was prohibited at night as part of new security regulations.
Under the new rules, protests were limited to Sundays and public holidays, and only with the permission of building management.
A student scales the security fence around Civic Square. Photo: SCMP Pictures
After a chaotic period during which police struggled to stop the flow of students into the forecourt, officers managed to restore a wide security cordon around the area late on Friday night. Several dozen students huddled inside the square, surrounded by a ring of police officers.
Many hundreds of protesters gathered outside the square behind the wider cordon chanting "Shame on the police". Police said more than 5,000 people had gathered outside Civic Square at the rally's peak.
As police reinforcements attempted to enter the square, protesters outside appeared to deliberately block their way, prompting officers to use pepper spray again.
Paramedics entered the area amid reports that several people had been injured. A protester, a police officer and at least two others were stretchered away, with the crowds outside the cordon parting to clear a path to waiting ambulances.
An injured police officer is stretchered away from government headquarters to a waiting ambulance. Photo: May Tse
One of those being taken to hospital was said to have complained of heart problems.
Students have been on strike since Monday to protest Beijing's decision last month to rule out an open election of the chief executive in 2017. Student leaders had called on Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying to meet them for talks on the city's political reform, marching on Thursday night to Leung's official residence in Central.
But Leung refused, and the federation had announced its intention to step up a campaign of civil disobedience.
A student washes pepper spray from her eyes outside government headquarters. Photo: SCMP Pictures
"The ambush action was to show the injustice," Yvonne Leung said on Friday night. "Leung Chun-ying has failed to respond to us in the 48-hour deadline we gave. Civic Square belongs to the people and we have to seize it back."
The storming of the square was planned by the federation and Scholarism jointly, Yvonne Leung said, but was not intended to mark the beginning of Occupy Central. The pro-democracy Occupy movement is expected to rally thousands of supporters to blockade streets in Central next Wednesday, National Day.
Yvonne Leung called on the public to come to the square to show support "so that the occupation can last".
Reporting by Joyce Ng, Amy Nip, Jeffie Lam, Timmy Sung, Danny Mok
