Hong Kong police compel marathon runners to cover up ‘political’ clothing and tattoos

Police in Hong Kong on October 24 told the marathon runners to change the clothing that depicted the ‘political’ slogans and tattoos during the island’s first major sporting event in nearly two years amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Runners were reported telling the local news outlets that they were coerced by the law enforcement authorities to cover up or remove slogans, including phrases like “Hong Kong, add oil” in Chinese, a slogan widely popular during the 2019 pro-democracy protests.

Hong Kong’s online edition of the Mingpao newspaper, and other sources report on October 24 that the slogan that constituted representation of the political message, was asked by the Hong Kong police to be removed after they launched a crackdown on the marathon event.  One of the runners, who had the tattoo of the phrase on the leg was forced to conceal it with adhesive tape. Hong Kong police have detained hundreds over the sweeping national security law enacted in Hong Kong in June 2020 that made raising democratic voices a criminal offence in the autonomous city.  Nearly 15,000 Hong Kongers participated in the marathon. 

[Runners were interrupted & stopped simply having words “Hong Kong”, “Hong Kong add oil”. Image: Twitter/@LionLionman33]

[Image: Twitter/@LionLionman33]

More than 2,000 police officers were deployed to prevent activities linked to revolt. An eyewitness told HK01 that the marathon organizers told the Hong Kongers to remove his shirt and the blazer where the slogan ran. "This is a sports event and we do not wish to see any political element," William Ko, the marathon organizing committee's chair, was reported saying at a press conference after the race." Add Oil,” he stated was a phrase of encouragement and rebel used across the Chinese languages. In Hong Kong, the pro-democracy political phrases are deemed subversive and can lead to detention under the draconian national security law. 

[Image: Twitter/@HelpSoshk]

[Image: Twitter/@HelpSoshk]

Hong Kong conducted the first Trial under National Security Law 

This year, Hong Kong conducted the autonomous city's first-ever trial of a first-person arrested on July 1, 2020, under the draconian national security law without a jury. Altering the legal landscape of the autonomous city under the administration of the People’s Republic of China, Hong Kong started a trial of Tong Ying-Kit on charges of terrorism and incitement to succession as he had flashed an anti-government slogan on a flag that read, ”Liberate Hong Kong! Revolution of our times" during the civil disobedience movement. 

The 24-year-old, who pleaded ‘not guilty’ also allegedly rammed his bike into the police officers last year during the July 1 pro-democracy protests, where political activists had gathered disobeying the curfew to oppose Beijing’s national security law by using what Hong Kong calls unlawful tactics. The controversial legislation, imposed on Hong Kong by the central Chinese government, took effect on June 30, 2020.

Image: Twitter/@HelpSoshk