Outrage in Hong Kong over violent arrest of 12-year-old girl

• Asia: Almost 300 arrested in Hong Kong after new protests over delayed elections

It has been more than a year since the images of thousands of people in Hong Kong challenging China's authoritarianism ceased to be a novelty.

Even the police charges, with rubber balls, tear gas and water tanks, became almost a ritual to close the protests.

But what viewers were not used to is seeing a policeman forcibly detain a 12-year-old girl on video.

Later, with the minor already on the ground, four other officers jump at her to immobilize her.

The scene has gone viral on social media.

The Hong Kong media have shared the video in which the police corner a group in front of a shop window, where

.

For the city police, according to the statement they issued last night after the public outrage over the images released, the action of the agents was due to the fact that the girl was "

", that she was "participating in a prohibited meeting" and that they subjected her with "the use of the minimum necessary force."

But if one reads the testimony of the girl's mother, collected by the Apple Daily newspaper, it points out that

, was simply in that area with her 20-year-old brother to buy some cans of paint that needed for a school job.

"She fled because she was scared," said the mother, assuring that she was going to sue the agents.

Her two sons were also fined because they had allegedly bypassed the ban on attending large gatherings.

The arrest of the minor occurred in the first major demonstration in Hong Kong since July 1, on the 23rd anniversary since the former British colony returned to Chinese rule.

This time, the protest march was against the delay of the legislative elections in the city, which should have been held this Sunday.

, the head of the Hong Kong Executive, postponed the elections for a year due to the new wave of coronavirus that the city was facing.

Although for pro-democracy activists the move was politically motivated to try to stop a debacle at the polls on the pro-Beijing side.

In the end, yesterday's demonstration, in addition to the scene of the arrest of the 12-year-old girl, ended with

.

Most have been charged with "illegal assembly".

But among those arrested is also a woman accused of violating the National Security Law by spreading slogans promoting Hong Kong's independence.

This law, passed on June 30 by Beijing, punishes with up to life imprisonment acts of secession, subversion, terrorism and collusion with a foreign country.

Barely 12 hours had passed since its approval when the first arrest in Hong Kong under the new law occurred.

It was during the July 1 protests.

That day, 10 people were arrested for waving pro-independence flags.

Among those arrested was a 15-year-old adolescent.

So far, at least 25 people have been arrested under the security law.

"The police fulfilled their legitimate duties, took swift and decisive measures to arrest the offenders," the city government said in a statement after ending the protests on Sunday.

The Beijing Liaison Office accused the protesters of trying to "rekindle the war" and of having "a cold-blooded disregard for the life and health of the general public" by violating assembly bans.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

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