A total of 48 policemen were injured during the last morning in Hong Kong in a raid against illegal sale of street food that caused clashes between traders and agents and ended with 24 detainees. According to local newspaper South China Morning Post, Hong Kong's Mong Kok district a reported working class neighborhood and high commercial activity, the location is being surrounded by the police after the riots during last night, where they were also wounded some journalists.
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| Protesters throw stones and objects at police in Hong Kong, Feb. 9, 2016 (EFE) |
Police are preparing to carry out an operation against street selling food which caused protests among traders who were more heated and ended with the throwing of stones, containers and bottles at officers. According to police, around a hundred people participated in the protest, and mostly the young. Security forces responded with pepper gas and fired warning shots because, they said, the lives of the agents was being threatened.
The deputy commander of the police in Hong Kong in the district, Yau Siu kei, told the South China Morning Post that it is possible that the protests were organized, because, he said, the protesters were available with carpools shields, helmets or gloves. "It is my feeling that it was an organized crime, could not be a being an accidental incident,"he said, for his part, Hon Ip Kwok, the chairman of the Panel on Security of the local government, who defended the decision to police open fire. Other witnesses reported, told the newspaper, the violence used by police.
They arrested 23 men and a woman accused of assaulting police, resisting arrest, disorderly conduct and obstructing police work. One of those arrested was a member of the pro independence group of Hong Kong Indigenous Edward Leung, who aspires to be elected to the Parliament of the city in three weeks, as confirmed by his Facebook page. This is the worst episode of violence lived in Hong Kong since the historic protests of late 2014 when thousands of protesters camped in different parts of the city demanding more political freedoms for Hong Kong.
Placing these stalls near Mong Kok is common throughout the year, especially in the framework of the celebrations of the New Year, but the authorities have decided to act on this occasion. In this regard, the leader of the movement Youngspiration, Baggio Leung, has argued that went along with ten other members of the party to protest in defense of the local culture, as reported by the British broadcaster BBC. The prime minister of Hong Kong, CY Leung, has condemned the incident, stressed that the country "can not tolerate this," and ensuring that "Police will spare no effort to stop the rioters."