Hong Kong police arrest 157 people over violence since Friday

HONG KONG - The Hong Kong police said on Monday that a total of 157 people had been arrested for violent acts in different parts of Hong Kong from Friday to early Monday.

During the past three days, some radical protesters, in disregard of the court's injunction for the Hong Kong International Airport, tried to storm the airport and paralyze the traffic around the airport.

Some violent protesters vandalized Mass Transit Railway (MTR) stations, smashing windows and damaging facilities. Some of them erected barricades and set fires on roads.

These acts clearly ran against the interests of the general public, and the police would continue maintaining public order and security and bringing the law breakers to justice, Chief Superintendent Tse Chun-chung of the Police Public Relations Branch (PPRB) told a media briefing.

Senior Superintendent Kong Wing-cheung of PPRB said the police had arrested 125 males and 32 females, aged between 14 and 63, during the three days.

Their offenses include criminal damage, possession of offensive weapons, assaulting police, contempt of court and unlawful assemblies. Six of them have been charged and have appeared in court.

Deputy Chief Fire Officer (Headquarters) Chan Derek Armstrong of the Fire Services Department said his department received 23 fire reports related to the public gatherings from Friday to Sunday, including the intense fire set by protesters near one exit of the Central MTR station on Sunday.

He pointed out that arson is becoming an increasingly serious problem in Hong Kong and expressed the Fire Sevices Department's condemnation of the acts that seriously affected the public safety and properties.