Use of force by police officers against demonstrators (2019/06/19) (Supplementary)

Use of force by police officers against demonstrators (2019/06/19) (Supplementary)

MR YIU SI-WING (in Cantonese): President, on 12 June, I was not in the Legislative Council Complex but outside the Complex, terrified by the scenes shown on television. A crowd of armed rioters kept charging the police's cordon line. At that time, I was very much worried that they would break the cordon line and rushed to the area under the Drum, storming into the lobby. We all know that the door of the lobby is made of glass. If the crowd had stormed into the lobby, which is a small place, the personal safety of police officers, protesters, staff members as well as Members upstairs would have been at risk. In view of this, I would like to ask the Government, the then commander or the Secretary:Has an assessment been made on the potential damage and personal safety risks in case the rioters or protesters stormed into the lobby of the Legislative Council Complex or even went upstairs? Had the Secretary made such an assessment? If he had, what was the risk level?

 

SECRETARY FOR SECURITY (in Cantonese): President, I wish to thank Mr YIU. After assessment, we had concerns over the situation because the atmosphere back then was extremely tense. Protesters deliberately attacked the Police with violence and broke some of the Police's accoutrements. If protesters broke through the cordon line, they would storm into the Legislative Council Complex and might result in serious casualties as some other people were inside the building. That was why police officers insisted on guarding their posts to protect the Complex and the staff therein despite facing huge difficulties and personal safety risks. I urge members of the public not to vent their dissatisfaction with the deficiencies of the Government on police officers because they were the ones who strived to ensure the safety of lives and properties in the Legislative Council Complex regardless of difficulties.

 

MR YIU SI-WING (in Cantonese): President, I do not think the Secretary has given a clear explanation. He only said that the Legislative Council Complex might likely suffer damage. Did he weigh the price of firing tear gas rounds or rubber bullets against the damage caused by the storming of the Complex lobby? Which one would outweigh the other?

 

SECRETARY FOR SECURITY (in Cantonese): President, I thank Mr YIU for his supplementary question. For operations like firing of tear gas, all of the weapons used by the Police were non-lethal, and the accoutrements were more or less same as those used by the police officers overseas. The objective of these operations was to create a safe distance between the violent people and police officers as well as the Legislative Council Complex. That was very important because if there had not been such a safe distance, people who deliberately attacked police officers would have stormed into the Legislative Council Complex and posed serious threat to personal safety. As it was hard to tell whether the storming would be life-threatening, the Police must take the necessary action to stop that from happening.

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