Hong Kong, Nov. 22 (IANS): Hong Kong police has asked the demonstrators to leave the Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) campus as soon as possible, citing bad and dangerous conditions inside.
Dozens of demonstrators have refused to leave the blockaded campus following intense clashes with police, though most have either escaped, voluntarily left or been arrested by officers stationed outside, reported Hong Kong Free Press.
Police Commissioner Tang Ping-keung said there was no deadline for the clearance of Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU), which had been occupied by protesters for more than a week.
Tang said on Friday that they hoped for a peaceful resolution to the deadlock. "We do not have any deadline," he said. "We hope that those inside will come out because the conditions are becoming increasingly unsafe." Several protesters have said in court that they were beaten up by police while being arrested outside of PolyU. Responding to the claims, Tang said it was not new for arrestees to allege that they had been assaulted by officers.
Tang told a media briefing that most of the rioters who had occupied the campus for days have been persuaded to leave, and the police worked very hard in the vicinity of the PolyU campus with some officers having been on duty for more than 30 hours in a row reported Xinhua news agency.
Under the threat from hundreds of petrol bombs, bricks and metal balls, officers enforced the law in harsh conditions, and a police media liaison officer was shot in the leg with an arrow, said Tang, who was appointed as the new Hong Kong police chief on Tuesday.
During the standoff around the PolyU, the police have arrested some 1,100 people for offences including taking part in a riot and possession of offensive weapons.
