Police committed 'a crime'

The images sparked outrage. Footage from local television network TVB show a group of plain-clothes officers assaulting a handcuffed and unarmed pro-democracy protester in a Hong Kong public park.

The city's security chief said the accused officers were "removed" from their posts following the assault on Tuesday's night which also saw some of he worst clashes between the authorities and pro-democracy demonstrators in China's special administrative region.

Tensions have mounted in recent days as the authorities began to remove barricades from protest sites across the city. The demonstrations have been triggered by Beijing's insistence that it will vet candidates standing for election to become the semi-autonomous city's next leader in 2017.

In a DW interview, Yvonne Leung, spokesperson of the Hong Kong Federation of Students (HKFS), says that the recent incident will only further affect people's view of the police at a time when trust in the police force is at an all-time low.

Leung adds that most protesters would be satisfied if the government made "solid" promises or vowed improvements.

DW: How would you describe the way the police handled the situation?

Yvonne Leung: I think the police have definitely committed a crime. The fact that they try to carry out their duties gives them no right to beat up any of the people they detain. The police have the right to react should some resist arrest.

But as seen in the video, there is no sign that the person involved in this incident tried to do so. So there was really no point for the police to act this way.

Some two weeks ago, the police used pepper spay against the protesters, sparking even stronger support for the demonstrations. In your view, what impact will this video have on people?

The general public is very annoyed by recent police actions and trust in the police force is at an all-time low. I even think most people will stage protests against the police whose handling of the situation will become one of the main topics in the coming days.

The city's security chief Lai Tung-kwok said the officers accused had been "removed" from their posts and that the issue would be investigated. Will this be enough?

I don't think so, given that this will only be an internal investigation which will probably yield no results. None of those bearing the responsibility will be removed.

But even then, their removal wouldn't amount to punishment as we are dealing here with misuse of power, and this is a crime.

Some observers believe that the organizers are losing control of the movement. They claim that protesters do not necessarily listen to the organizers. Are you worried about that?

There is more to the movement than the controlling power of the organizers. It is important to know whether the direction of the movement is clear and the people know what they are asking for. I believe they still know this and it is called general democracy.

I believe most protesters would be satisfied if the government made "solid" promises or pledged some improvements. But the government has failed to do that so far.

We - the Hong Kong Federation of Students - have always emphasized that we are only a student organization and do not claim the right to represent all the people.

But the point is that we have been given the duty to be one of the organizations giving directions to the movement, as we initiated the "recapturing" of Civic Square. There is no point for us to escape from the responsibility of giving directions to the movement.

But whether people accept that or not, is another question. We need to do something to improve the communication between us and the people and to see if the directions we are suggesting are the correct ones.

Yvonne Leung is the spokesperson of the Hong Kong Federation of Students (HKFS), which is a student organization comprised of the students' union of 8 tertiary education institutions. HKFS is also one of the main organizers of the pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong.