A court has issued an injunction order to remove demonstrators from Hong Kong International Airport after they were accused of engaging in violent confrontations with police, local media reported on Wednesday.
The airport authority was granted the injunction by a judge late Tuesday, the South China Morning Post newspaper reported.
Extremely large anti-government demonstrations in Hong Kong escalated on Tuesday when protesters staged a new sit-in at the Hong Kong International Airport, prompting the cancellation of all flights.
The government of Hong Kong in a statement slammed the actions of the protesters at the airport which they claim resulted in violence and attacks on police.
“The Government severely condemns these violent acts, which are outrageous and have overstepped the bottom line of a civilised society. The Police will take relentless enforcement action to bring the persons involved to justice”, the statement said.
The government stated that a large number of protesters had assembled at the airport, paralyzing airport operations and causing major disruptions to travel.
“At night, some violent protesters went even worse as they besieged and assaulted a traveler and a reporter, as well as obstructed an ambulance crew from taking the traveler to hospital. A number of violent protesters attacked a police officer when the Police attended to the incident, seriously jeopardising the officer’s personal safety,” the official government statement claimed.
Protests in the financial hub began over two months ago after the local legislature opened debates on a bill that would have allowed extradition to mainland China.
The city’s chief executive, Carrie Lam, remarked that the bill was “dead”.
Protesters are demanding that it must nonetheless be withdrawn completely. Locals also want city authorities to implement universal suffrage and retract all criminal charges against protesters.