Hong Kong police arrests hundreds as protestors return to streets on September 7

In a wave of fresh protests on Sunday, Hong Kong Police arrested hundreds of people, including key activists, for demonstrating against the authorities' decision to postpone Legislative Assembly Election for a year. As per reports, about 290 protestors were arrested on September 7. 

Read: Hong Kong Police Arrest 90 At Protests Over Election Delay

Elections Postponed

Hong Kong Elections were originally scheduled to have taken place on September 7, 2020 but city's Chief Executive Carrie Lam postponed the vote to 2021 citing COVID-19 concerns. As per reports, the police have arrested 289 protestors for unlawful assembly, with another 19 held for charges including disorderly conduct, obstructing and assaulting police. 

In addition, the arrests were made in Yau Ma Tei and Mongkok neighborhoods in Kowloon, famous for their night markets that attract lots of tourists. The police department on its Facebook page said that such protests are illegal under a newly enacted national security law. 

Hong Kong protests erupted last year over an extradition law which has been touted has Beijing's efforts to establish control over the autonomous city. The coronavirus pandemic has put a stop to the widespread anti-government protests but smaller groups were actively participating in rallies from time to time. 

Read: Hong Kong Govt Claims Almost 1 Million People Have Registered For Mass COVID-19 Testing

Earlier last week, the Hong Kong government recorded nearly 978,000 people registering for its COVID-19 mass testing programme. According to a government press release, around 656,000 people have been tested and about 284,800 samples from the community tests have been processed by labs on Friday.

Hong Kong government notified that people testing COVID-19 positive will be referred to the Public Health Laboratory Services Branch of the Department of Health for confirmatory tests. The confirmed cases will be followed up and announced by the Centre for Health Protection.

(With AP inputs)

Read: Hong Kong Police Arrest 30 At Protests Over Election Delay

Read: China Rebukes UN Experts For Raising Concerns Over Security Law In Hong Kong