The 2019 Prince Edward station attack, also known as the 31 August MTR station incident[2] (Chinese: 831太子站事件),[3][4][5][6] was an incident in which Hong Kong police indiscriminately[7][8][9] attacked passengers while arresting protesters who were returning home via Prince Edward station, on the night of 31 August 2019, after a protest was held that same day. The event was described as the police version of the 2019 Yuen Long attack, and the police have been criticised as acting like terrorists.[10][11] Rumours have been circulated that several protesters were beaten to death at the station, but the police have rejected allegations.[12] However, for over a year on the last day of each month, pro-democracy supporters continued to leave white flowers and bowed as a sign of mourning, until they were stopped by more stringent enforcement of the national security law by police.[13]
| 2019 Prince Edward station attack | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of 2019–2020 Hong Kong protests | ||||
Hong Kong police storm Prince Edward station and attack civilians on 31 August 2019. | ||||
| Date | 31 August 2019 (Hong Kong Time UTC+8) | |||
| Location | Prince Edward station, Mong Kok, Kowloon | |||
| Resulted in | (See Aftermath section) | |||
| Parties | ||||
| ||||
| Casualties | ||||
| Injuries | At least 10 (people sent to hospital) | |||
| Arrested | 65 (as of 1 November, all protestors or passengers)[1] | |||
| Charged | 2 (as of 1 November) | |||
  Location within Hong Kong | ||||
| 2019 Prince Edward station attack | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chinese | 831太子站事件 | ||||||||||
| |||||||||||
The attack is known in Hong Kong as the 831 incident, after the date 31 August.[14]
Timeline
editAccording to several news reports, some protesters conducted flash mobbing on MTR lines, damaging Mong Kok MTR station.[15] They clashed with counter-demonstrators in one of the cabins of the Kwun Tong line train which was heading towards Tiu Keng Leng, as well as on the platform.[15][16] The counter-demonstrators were armed with weapons including hammers[15][17] and box cutters.[15]
Videos showed the police Raptor Squads arriving at Prince Edward station, clubbing and pepper-spraying travellers without arresting them. They also conducted arrests of others who were on the platform and on stationary trains on the Kwun Tong line.[18]
According to one passenger of the Central-bound train on the Tsuen Wan line, not all of the passengers in his cabin were protesters;[15] other witnesses also accused the police of attacking those passengers without reason.[15]
The train[which?] then went to Yau Ma Tei station, where the injured passengers were evacuated by medics; bloodied bandages, tissues and umbrellas littered the scene. The station was closed soon afterwards by the police, even journalists and paramedics were not allowed to enter. One paramedic was reportedly waved a banner with the words "Hindering aid operations is violating International humanitarian law".[19]
After the raid, seven people were sent to hospital. An additional three people from the initial Kwun Tong line conflict had been sent to the hospital via Yau Ma Tei station, before the arrival of the officers of the Hong Kong Fire Services Department. The fire department also admitted that the police who arrived before them had temporarily blocked the access of the platforms, delaying the rescue.[20] It was reported that it took the injured over 2.5 hours to reach the hospital.[21]
A total of 65 people were arrested as of 1 November for involvement in the incident.[1] The police accused the suspects of "unauthorised assembly," "criminal damage," and "obstruction of a police officer in the execution of his duty".[22] However, it was reported that a counter-demonstrator armed with a hammer was not among those arrested, despite witness' claims that he had injured several people.[15]
According to the police, two arrested suspects, aged 33 and 13, were formally charged for "possession of offensive or lethal weapons".[1] Their cases were mentioned in the court for the first time on 2 September.[1] The second mention of their cases were queued in November.[23][24] 62 people were under bail as of 1 November.[1] Another teen, aged 15, was released in October without charges. The court refused his application for a protective order.[25]
-
Passengers attacked by the police -
Police aiming at passengers with a sponge grenade gun -
Passengers during the attack -
Train interior after the police attack -
Passengers surrendering to riot police
Aftermath
editThe Hong Kong Fire Services Department's preliminary initial records had changed from 10 to 7 injured.[20]
On 6 September 2019, several sit-in protests were reported in September wherein protesters demanded MTR to release the footage of the closed-circuit television[26] and were "calling on police to apologise for excessive violence".[27] One of the exits of the MTR station became an unofficial memorial wall with flowers and messages. Despite attempts to destroy the memorial by other residents,[28] flowers and messages were re-built by the protesters.[29]
On 31 October, another protest was held near the station to mark the two month commemoration of the incident.[30] However, the protest, which did not have a permit from the police, resulted in a clash between protesters and the police, with at least three people injured and least one protester arrested.[31] It was also reported that the protesters had vandalised traffic lights and the exits of Mong Kok MTR station, as well as starting a fire on nearby Nathan Road.[30]
One of the teens who was injured by the police filed a civil lawsuit against the Hong Kong Police Force, alleging that the attacks against him constituted assault and he was therefore entitled to damages.[32]
On 10 November 2021, a male student of the Hong Kong Academy of Performing Arts pleaded guilty at the District Court to the rioting charges of damaging station property, and threatening passers-by with a cane. Justice Douglas Yau said that Wan was a "frontline offender" and "wantonly vandalised" the station's control room. The starting point for sentencing was four years. With consideration of Wan's guilty plea, the sentence handed out was 40 months.[33]
Reactions
editCritics also made sarcastic comments about the police, claiming they were blatantly lying.[34] During the press meeting, the police claimed they were able to distinguish innocent citizens from their arrest targets. They claimed there were "undercover violent protesters" that had changed clothes to blend in, and denied attacking people indiscriminately.[22]
Amnesty International Hong Kong called for an investigation into the police conduct after the Special Tactical Squad stormed Prince Edward station and beat and pepper-sprayed the commuters inside.[35]
The Hong Kong Bar Association accused the police of abusing its power, claiming "Video footage from the Prince Edward MTR station last Saturday night show riot police launching indiscriminate attacks, without any apparent lawful excuse, and using pepper spray on passengers inside a train compartment or hitting them with batons, especially since the officers in question left the train carriage afterwards without making any arrests".[36]
Both the Hong Kong Public Opinion Research Institute (PORI; a successor of HKU Public Opinion Programme) and CUHK Centre for Communication and Public Opinion Survey made opinion polls for the protest and incidents. In the CUHK's fifth survey for the whole protest, 52% of interviewees believe the rumour that the police had killed citizens during the 31 August raid in the MTR station.[37] In PORI's survey, conducted in October, 48% of interviewees believe the rumour.[37][38] Critics urged the government to establish an Independent Commission of Inquiry, by invoking the Commissions of Inquiry Ordinance, to respond to the situation.[37]
A day before the second anniversary of the incident, a local reporter said he had received mail containing a large razor blade and an anonymous message that he should keep quiet about 831 to protect his family.[39]
For more than a year after the incident, pro-democracy supporters came to the station on the last day of each month to mourn the fatalities they believed had occurred during the attack. More stringent enforcement of the national security law by Hong Kong police ended this. A man holding flowers was taken away on the fifth anniversary of the protests in 2024 after bowing.[13]
See also
editReferences
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- ^ a b Leung, Hillary (2 September 2024). "Police conduct stop-and-search around Prince Edward MTR, 5 years after 2019 incident, 1 man taken away". Hong Kong Free Press. Retrieved 2 September 2024.
- ^ Jha, Preeti (31 August 2020). "Hong Kong protests: The flashpoints in a year of anger". BBC. Retrieved 6 March 2021.
- ^ a b c d e f g 速龍亂棍 街坊遭殃 傷者：打完唔拉人. Apple Daily. Hong Kong. 2 September 2019. Archived from the original on 27 October 2019. Retrieved 27 October 2019.
- ^ 血濺太子站 藍衫漢揮錘大戰示威者. Oriental Daily (in Chinese (Hong Kong)). Hong Kong: Oriental Press Group. 1 September 2019. Archived from the original on 27 October 2019. Retrieved 27 October 2019.
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- ^ 【反修例】831示威太子站傷者要等港鐵「特別列車」 救護員花2.5小時才能將傷者送院. Topick (in Chinese (Hong Kong)). Hong Kong Economic Times Holdings. Archived from the original on 30 October 2019. Retrieved 30 October 2019.
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- ^ a b Choi, Martin; Magramo, Kathleen; Leung, Kanis (31 October 2019). "Halloween protests in Hong Kong: police fire tear gas in Mong Kok, Central and Sheung Wan as people denounce alleged force brutality and march against mask ban". South China Morning Post. Hong Kong. Archived from the original on 2 November 2019. Retrieved 2 November 2019.
Protesters gather across the city to mark two months since police operation in Prince Edward MTR station and to march from Victoria Park
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In response to the latest clashes between police and protesters in Hong Kong on Saturday night – including one incident where police stormed the platform of Prince Edward metro station and beat people on a train – Man-Kei Tam, Director of Amnesty International Hong Kong, said: "Violence directed at police on Saturday is no excuse for officers to go on the rampage elsewhere. The horrifying scenes at Prince Edward metro station, which saw terrified bystanders caught up in the melee, fell far short of international policing standards.
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