First wave of alleged Hong Kong rioters – including teacher, 16-year-old and Cathay Pacific pilot – released on bail with most handed curfew
- Nurse also among 44 charged with rioting following Sunday night’s city centre clashes
- Supporters outside court chant slogans, saying move against accused would only anger more people and fuel further protests
Forty-three protesters on Wednesday became the first batch of participants of the extradition bill demonstrations to be formally charged for rioting, with all later released on bail and most given a midnight curfew.
Among those who stood in the dock were a Cathay Pacific pilot, a teacher and 14 students, with the youngest being a 16-year-old girl, and the oldest, a 41-year-old woman.
They were charged in connection with Sunday’s protests in Central and Western district on Hong Kong Island, which had been deemed illegal as it did not receive police approval and where radical protesters armed with bricks and metal rods fought with riot police who resorted to tear gas to subdue them.
Appearing at Eastern Court in front of a packed gallery on Wednesday, all but two of the defendants were given curfews from or soon after midnight to 6am.
Their appearance in court was greeted by hundreds of supporters waving placards and chanting, a few of whom later vandalised a police van.
But most were largely peaceful, in marked contrast to the previous night when supporters at Kwai Chung Police Station grew restive and took on officers. The crowds were there to receive the accused, who were awaiting bail.
