1,183 arrested over violence in Hong Kong since June: police

The Hong Kong police arrested 35 people in violent protests in different parts of Hong Kong on Tuesday, bringing the total number of the arrested since June 9 to 1,183, the police told a media briefing on Wednesday.

Radical protesters committed violent acts in different parts of Hong Kong Island and Kowloon on Tuesday, including blocking roads, besieging the Mong Kok police station and damaging facilities at underground railway stations, said Chief Superintendent Tse Chun-chung of Police Public Relations Branch.

A total of 30 males and 5 females, aged between 14 and 39, were arrested on Tuesday over offences including unlawful assembly, possession of offensive weapons and criminal damage.

In an operation in Kowloon East area on Tuesday night, the police stopped a bus carrying dozens of radical protesters who had caused extensive damage to Wong Tai Sin MTR station, and arrested 33 people.

Senior Superintendent Foo Yat-ting of the police Kowloon East Region said these protesters were liable not only to the offense of contempt of court as they defied the injunction order for the MTR system, but also to offences such as criminal damage.

Likening the ongoing violent protests in Hong Kong to an infectious disease, Tse said the disease is "spreading across the city and poisoning the minds of many young people."

"There is certainly no quick cure to the disease. Every person in the society has a role to play in nursing Hong Kong back to health," he said, "We sincerely appeal to every member of the public to join us. Please make a clear break with all violent and criminal elements to put Hong Kong back on the right track."