TNAG-0003-FCO40-39-Commission-of-Enquiry-into-the-Kowloon-disturbances-addition-1968 — Page 81

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PART IV

THE MEASURES TAKEN TO DEAL WITH THE

DISTURBANCES

CHAPTER 1.

The Demonstrations

POLICE ACTION

220. Police action necessarily played a part in the occurrences from the demon- strations on April 4/5th to the outbreak of rioting on April 6th and in some cases influenced the course of events. In this chapter we look more closely at the decisions taken by the police, the reasons for them and the part they played in producing the ultimate pattern.

221. The 'Hunger Strike'. We were told that SO Sau Chung was kept under observation from the moment he took up position at the Star Ferry Concourse but, whilst recognizing that he was an object of interest, the police considered that he was not causing any real obstruction to persons passing to and from the Star Ferry and orders were given that no precipitate action should be taken to arrest him, unless it was necessary to prevent a positive obstruction.

222. We are satisfied on the evidence before us that the arrest of SO was quite in order and that no undue force was used. This is in contrast to the information which the demonstrators appear to have given Mr. BERNACCHI and Mrs. ELLIOTT outside the Urban Council Chamber. According to a newspaper reporter, they claimed that SO was not causing an obstruction, that he had not been warned to leave and that excessive force had been used in his arrest. We quote this at length here since it typifies the sort of mischievous exaggeration to which these young people were prone in describing police actions that interfered with their wishes.

223. We are satisfied that the decision taken by the police in tolerating SO's demonstration until he invited action by moving up to the turnstiles was based on good grounds, although, with the benefit of hindsight, it is possible to speculate that the subsequent escalation of events might not have occurred if SO had been asked to leave before his gesture had attracted the considerable publicity which it did and gained the support of a number of youths. On the other hand, from what we saw of SO, it would seem unlikely that a request to leave would have been tamely obeyed.

224. The Demonstration March. The action taken by the police in respect of the demonstration march on 5/6th April and the prior information on which