Two arrested as parallel trading protests descend into chaos at Hong Kong border town Sheung Shui, while lawmaker accuses police of targeting innocent man, who tries to jump off bridge ‘out of panic’
- One young man, suspected of unlawful assembly, attempts to jump off bridge in apparent bid to avoid police inquiries
- Lawmaker says police were pursuing innocent man, but union accuses Andrew Wan of ‘lying and misleading’ the public, adding officers saved suspect’s life
A masked man who tried to jump off a footbridge “out of panic” was one of two suspects arrested on Sunday in relation to anti-parallel trader protests in Sheung Shui, a border district in Hong Kong.
But pro-democracy lawmaker Andrew Wan Siu-kin accused police of arresting the wrong person, saying the young man was not involved in the protests but nearly lost his life.
A police union hit back at Wan’s “misleading” comments, saying officers had rescued the man by stopping him from leaping off the bridge.
“The commander was chasing after a first young man [at other side of the footbridge], and the alleged young person has just been standing there,” Wan told reporters in the early hours of Sunday. “He then jumped off the bridge out of panic.”
The rally finished peacefully but later descended into clashes including an hour-long standoff between police and protesters.
