Albert Chen urged the students and the government to sit down and discuss their differences. Photo: HKEJ
Outrage over Tamar beating incident
Albert Chen, a legal scholar and Basic Law Committee member, asked the government to punish members of the police force who violate the law after a video clip surfaced showing a group of police officers beating up a protester in Admiralty in the early hours of Wednesday.
Chen said the incident should be investigated and those involved should face legal responsibility, Radio Television Hong Kong reported.
He was referring to a TVB broadcast of a video footage showing six policemen beating and kicking a pro-democracy activist at a corner of Tamar Park in Admiralty early Wednesday morning.
The footage has sparked public outcry over the behavior of some police officers in handling the pro-democracy protests.
Meanwhile, Helena Wong, a member of the Independent Police Complaints Council, said the policemen involved in the Tamar incident breached police protocol and could be held criminally liable.
The police officers should have released the protester after he had been put under control since he did not fight back, instead of beating him up, Wong said.
She said she hopes police would issue an explanation as soon as possible.
Emily Lau of the Democratic Party said she would bring up the incident at the Legislative Council meeting on Wednesday.
She, however, urged the protesters to remain peaceful and not to test the limit of the police so that the Legco meeting could run smoothly.
Lai Tung-kwok, Secretary for Security, said the police officers involved in the Tamar incident will be assigned to other tasks while an investigation is going on.
Chen, a former dean of the faculty of law at the University of Hong Kong, urged the students and the government to sit down and discuss their differences.
If the dialogue fails to reach a consensus, Hong Kong people will understand that the government has to clear up the protest areas after trying all other means to end the standoff, Chen said.
He said the students have a right to express their views and sentiments, but other citizens also have the right to earn a living.
He suggested that the protesters be allowed to stay in the occupied streets for a certain period, after which law enforcers can start arresting them if they refuse to leave.
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