Report by : Gan Yung Chyan, KUCINTA SETIA
Image : Composite picture (Video Screenshots)
What happened in the 7.21 West Rail Station riot?
On 21 July 2019, a large number of people in white clothes who were suspected of being gangsters attacked Hong Kong citizens who had returned from the anti-sentence parade on 21 July 2019. However, after many citizens called the police, the police were uncharacteristically delayed. Afterwards, they shirked responsibility with the issue of "command structure". At that time, Lin Cheuk Ting called the police as a member of the Legislative Council and personally came to the scene to mediate, trying to prevent the white-clothed men from continuing to commit the crime.
Lin Cheuk Ting praised for reporting the riot to Hong Kong police
After the 7.21 incident temporarily subsided, the Hong Kong police once sent a letter of thanks to Lin Cheuk Ting, praising him for reporting this serious crime to the police as "following the public's responsibility" and expressing gratitude. Unexpectedly, the police have now arrested Lin Chuek Ting with a high profile for "riot crimes". The arrest has caused an uproar in the Hong Kong community who have questioned the police for not acknowledging the truth.
Hong Kong police twisted facts, public grievances for Lin Cheuk Ting
However, the Hong Kong police conducted a new round of arrests on Wednesday. The 13 arrested people were alleged to be related to the 7.21 West Rail Station attack in Yuen Long last year. Lin Cheuk Ting, who came to mediate as a member of the Legislative Council but was injured by the attacker, was also arrested by the police. The police accused Lin of being involved in the July 21 incident as a “riot crime”. The Hong Kong Democratic Party subsequently publicly replied that this incident showed that the Hong Kong government "puts the wrong way around and reverses right and wrong."
After Lin Cheuk Ting was arrested, Liu Junjiang, a former TVB news anchor, immediately posted on social media criticizing the police's arrest for this time because of political motives and without reasonable grounds. He specifically stated that on the night of the July 21 incident, before arriving at the Yuen Long West Rail Station, Lin Cheuk-ting called Sergeant Tang of the Yuen Long Police-Civil Relations Unit and asked the police to come to the scene as soon as possible to enforce the law, and also stated that he would be present as a member of the Legislative Council to monitor and mediate.
Liu Junjiang emphasized, "Lin Cheuk Ting did not instigate people to go with him (Yuen Long) during the process. He only brought two colleagues from the Democratic Party. During the confrontation, Lin Cheuk Ting told the white-clothed man many times, 'Call the police and the police will come soon. Do not go away', he stressed that he reported to the police and was dealt with by the police. He did not act as an attack. If the same group of violent migration says, "the police will come soon, dare not to leave" can constitute a riot. What is the legal basis to his arrest? Is he neglecting his own presence, as a member of the Legislative Council to perform his duty of monitoring? Are all citizens present at the scene already participating in the riot? Including the victims."
Due to the bout of public opinion, the Senior Superintendent of the Criminal Headquarters of the New Territories North Region, Chen Tianzhu, appeared on 26 August to explain the relevant case to the media. He claimed that the July 21 incident at Yuen Long Station last year was not a unilateral "indiscriminate attack" by a white man. The demonstrators mainly dressed in black are described as “throwing debris at each other, attacking each other under railings, using fire hoses and fire extinguishers to attack” and describe the demonstrators in black when they are attacked by people in white. When the white-clothed men faced off in the lobby of Yuen Long Station, they were "evenly matched", completely obliterating the essential difference between actively launching an attack and being forced to counterattack. Therefore, public opinion generally questioned the police's statement as deliberate. The victims of the incident are confused with the assailants, playing double standards in law enforcement.
When Chen Tianzhu responded to questions from the media reporters at the press conference, he repeatedly emphasized that police enforcement only depends on whether the suspect's behavior at the scene violated the law, whether he was reported to the police or whether he was live broadcast, but he never explained that Lin Cheuk Ting was on the scene. So, what did the police do that led the police to believe that he was involved in a "riot"?
What happened on 26 August to Lin Cheuk Ting?
In the morning of 26 August 2020, the Hong Kong police arrested 16 people involved in the anti-transmission movement last year, including Democratic Party legislators Lin Cheuk Ting and Xu Zhifeng. Among them, Xu Zhifeng was accused by the police of attempting to obstruct justice in connection with the Tuen Mun Park case on 6 July 2019. Lin Cheuk Ting was charged with "riot crimes" for involvement in the Yuen Long 721 incident. He was suspected of having illegally assembled with a group of unknown persons at the Yuen Long West Rail Station in the July 21 incident and disrupted social peace, and announced that he would be arrested for riot.
Lin Cheuk Ting, who was negotiating with the police through the window, was taken aback by this and asked in surprise, "I was involved in the riot? The July 21 riot? Hong Kong is really absurd now! Now the Hong Kong police have become a political tool. Things like 721 are ridiculous. Don't you feel that this law enforcement action is shameful for slandering a victim as a defendant?"
Hong Kong police have no more morales, resort to indiscriminate arrests
Hong Kong police have no more morales. The police force have twisted facts and resort to indiscriminate arrests. The Hongkongers should not vote for the Carrie Lam administration during any future Legislature Council election for the horrific police behaviour.
On the same day, the Hong Kong Democratic Party publicly responded to the arrests of Lin Zhuoting and Xu Zhifeng, saying that this incident showed that the Hong Kong government was arguing that the Hong Kong government was arguing, and that they had adopted an upside-down approach to deal with the incident.
In response to the remarks made by the Hong Kong police after the arrest of Lin Cheuk Ting and Xu Zhifeng on Wednesday, the Hong Kong human rights organization "Civil Rights Watch" issued a statement condemning the police and the Supervisory Commission for distorting the 7.21 incident as a "fight" between people in white and black in an attempt to blur the truth.
The statement pointed out that the Hong Kong court's earlier verdict on the July 21 incident has clearly pointed out that the mere presence at the scene does not constitute a crime of riot. Lin Cheuk Ting was arrested as the victim, which is quite absurd. The organization requires the police to account for the specific allegations of the arrest of Lin Cheuk Ting, Xu Zhifeng and others. Otherwise the authorities are suspected of attempting to harass and coerce public opinion representatives by resorting to indiscriminate arrests.
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