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Hong Kong block Sunday protest march against mask ban

In Central, more than 300 protesters in black masks carried a banner which read “Citizens cover their faces, Carrie Lam covers her heart” as they rallied.

Hong Kong block Sunday protest march against mask ban

(Photo: IANS)

Thousands of protesters took to the street and blocked roads across Hong Kong during lunchtime protests on Friday after the police blocked the city’s largest pro-democracy group from marching on Sunday against the governments mask ban.

Residents took to the streets in Central, Tsim Sha Tsui, Mong Kok and Kwun Tong districts, the South China Morning reported.

In Central, more than 300 protesters in black masks carried a banner which read “Citizens cover their faces, Carrie Lam covers her heart” as they rallied.

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Earlier on Friday, police rejected an application for a Sunday march by the Civil Human Rights Front.

Police cited violent incidents stemming from earlier protests in its letter of objection.

Earlier this week, Hong Kong activists planned a rally after another weekend of unrest that saw protesters hurl petrol bombs and police fired tear gas and rubber bullets, as violence in the Chinese-ruled city shows no signs of letting up.

According to police, protesters threw more than 20 petrol bombs at a police station in the gritty working-class district of Mong Kok across the harbour in Kowloon and vandalized metro stations as well as mainland Chinese businesses or that deemed pro- Beijing.

Last week, hundreds of people took to streets for an anti-government march in Hong Kong a day after a female university student claimed to be a victim of police “sexual violence”.

Earlier this month, Hong Kong’s entire mass transit rail system was suspended after a night of violence sparked by a ban on pro-democracy protesters wearing face masks, as the government imposed emergency powers not used in more than half a century.

The ban was imposed under emergency powers not used in more than half a century that aimed at quelling nearly four months of unrest but instead triggered mass protests and vows of defiance, with a 14-year-old boy reportedly shot and wounded.

Lam had introduced a ban on people wearing masks at public rallies, colonial-era emergency legislation that has not been used in more than half a century.

The controversial China extradition bill was withdrawn in early September but the movement has morphed into a wider campaign for greater democracy and against alleged police brutality.

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