Hong Kong: Hong Kong’s largest police association on Monday advocated the use of live ammunition in dealing with protests that have rocked the city for more than three months.
The Junior Police Officers’ Association considered that bricks and molotov cocktails allegedly thrown by some protesters during clashes with the police could be lethal, therefore justifying a tougher response than teargas, rubber bullets or bean bag rounds, state broadcaster RTHK reported.
Clashes once again took place on Sunday in the special administrative region after the police banned a demonstration called by the Civil Human Rights Front. Officers responded to demonstrators throwing bricks, stones and molotov cocktails with water cannon and teargas, according to Efe news.
Meanwhile, Hong Kong police on Monday denied accusations their officers showed comparative lenience towards gangs of pro-Beijing men who attacked pro-democracy supporters during a weekend marked by multiple bloody street brawls.
The once stable international hub has been convulsed by weeks of huge, sometimes violent rallies calling for greater democratic freedoms and police accountability.
