The Daily Telegraph - 26.08.2019

Police open fire during Hong Kong protest

By Sophia Yan
and Katy Wong in Hong Kong

AT LEAST one Hong Kong police officer
yesterday fired a warning shot during
clashes with protesters armed with
sticks – the first time a live round has
been used in three months of protests.
The incident occurred as riot police
brought water cannons out of storage
in another new move since the mass
demonstrations began. They fired vol-
leys of tear gas and rubber bullets at
protesters who were hurling bricks
and homemade petrol bombs, causing
chaos in the mostly residential neigh-
bourhood of Tsuen Wan.
Several officers who were not
dressed in riot gear drew their pistols
after a group of protesters attacked a
police van, forcing those inside out of
the vehicle. At least one officer fired his
weapon after another fell to the ground.
Protesters scattered when the water
cannons were deployed, some taking
shelter in a nearby mall and barricad-
ing themselves in, while others headed
for neighbourhoods several miles
away, sparking off more clashes
throughout the night.
The day’s standoffs brought to an
end a weekend of violent skirmishes
that saw nearly two weeks of relative
calm in the glittering financial hub
come to an abrupt halt.
Yesterday’s descent into violence
followed what was a familiar cycle of
weekend events for the seven million
residents and workers in Hong Kong.
Thousands had turned out earlier in
the day for a peaceful march, defying
driving rain, before a group of radical
protesters began building barricades
with street rails, metal rubbish bins
and bamboo poles.
Police in full riot gear soon arrived at
the scene to clear the roads. They or-
dered protesters to disperse before fir-
ing tear gas and making arrests.
Several injured officers were taken
to hospital.
Police have arrested more than 700
people – some as young as 13 – since the
mass protests kicked off in early June
when crowds took to the streets against
proposed changes to Hong Kong’s ex-
tradition laws.
The now-suspended bill would have
sent Hong Kong residents to face trial
in mainland China, where the Commu-
nist Party’s control of the courts leads
to a 99.9 per cent conviction rate.
Although the bill has been shelved,
protesters continued to demand its for-
mal withdrawal, fearing that authori-
ties could otherwise table it again and
quickly pass it once the protests ended.
Since the unrest began, the demands

TYRONE SIU / REUTERS

Seven killed as helicopter and

plane crash mid-air in Majorca

By Nick Allen

SEVEN people, including two children,
died when a sightseeing helicopter and
an ultralight aircraft crashed in mid-air
over Majorca.
The helicopter had three adults and
two children on board, all of whom
were killed.
According to the Balearic Islands
government it was believed they were
all German. However, a local report
suggested one of them may have been
Italian.
Two men in the ultralight, who were
local to Majorca, also died. An ultra-
light is a form of small aircraft with
only one or two seats.
Both aircraft were in private use, ac-
cording to the Diario de Mallorca
newspaper.
Emergency services were called to
the crash at 1.35pm local time, and the
mid-air collision happened over the
Inca Hospital, in the municipality of
Inca, in the north of the island.
Wreckage from both aircraft was
strewn across parts of the town and ru-
ral areas.
Photographs circulated on social
media showed one section landed on
fire on what appeared to be a garden
wall.
A tail section from one of the aircraft
came down on a road, and another sec-
tion crashed into a farm field. Pedro

World news

have been expanded to include an in-

dependent investigation of police ac-

tions, the resignation of Carrie Lam,

Hong Kong’s chief executive, and di-

rect leadership elections.

Hong Kong’s leadership, however,

has offered no concessions, and its ap-

parent decision to instead rely on the

police to quell unrest has caused in-

creasing ire among demonstrators.

Earlier yesterday, a few hundred

people who said they were relatives of

Hong Kong police officers attended a

rally to criticise the government for

failing to solve what they see as a politi-

cal, and not a law enforcement, issue.

“For these three months, the govern-

ment has been hiding – they put the

burden on police,” said Ms Lee, 34, who

declined to give her full name and said

her brother-in-law was a police officer.

Hundreds of officers have also had

their personal details posted online, an

act known as “doxxing”, as anger grows

against the police.

“The reason why there is ‘doxxing’ is

because the government still hasn’t

done anything. They should be respon-

sible for what’s happening,” said Ms

Lee. But “because the government

doesn’t solve the problem, more people

will be affected, including the families

of police”.

Fallout from the protests have also

hit major Hong Kong corporations.

MTR – a publicly-traded firm major-

ity-owned by the government which

runs the city’s subway system – ob-

tained on Friday an interim injunction

order to prevent people from obstruct-

ing normal train operations.

The move was seen as response to

criticism in the Chinese state media

that it was “colluding with rioters” af-

Live ammunition used and

water cannons deployed

for first time in three

months of demonstrations

ter arranging extra trains to take pro-

testers home. Several stations along the

planned march routes were closed

over the weekend, stranding residents

accustomed to the city’s normally reli-

able public transport.

Meanwhile, Cathay Pacific has been

rocked by a series of staff changes over

the past week, including the surprise

resignation of its CEO, a move that was

widely seen as an attempt to curry po-

litical favour with Beijing after the

Hong Kong airline was criticised when

one of its pilots was arrested at one of

the demonstrations.

“I think politics is involved,” said Fox

Cheung, 30, who had to detour an extra

20 minutes to hop on a train home after

work. As a train operator, “obviously

MTR could do better but I think they

are under great pressure, just like

Cathay Pacific”.

Two police officers

on the front line of

the protests in the

Tsuen Wan district

of Hong Kong point

their guns towards

protesters, while

colleagues in riot

gear fire tear gas

canisters into the

crowds

Wreckage strewn on a path near Inca in

the north of the island of Majorca

following the fatal collision

‘For these

three

months, the

government

has been

hiding – they

put the

burden on

police’

Georgian war veteran ‘executed’ in Berlin

park shooting in suspected revenge killing

GERMAN police were yesterday inves-
tigating the assassination-style killing
of a Georgian former special forces
commando and Chechen war veteran
in a Berlin park.
Police arrested a 49-year-old suspect
from Russia’s Chechnya republic over
the shooting on Friday in the Kleiner
Tiergarten park.
The victim was identified as Zelim-
khan Khangoshvili by Georgia’s Hu-
man Rights Education and Monitoring
Centre (EMC). He was aged 40, accord-
ing to German prosecutors.
The killer approached Khangoshvili
from behind as he was on his way to a
mosque, shot him twice and fled by
bicycle in what one witness described
as an “execution” style killing.
“Khangoshvili died on the spot before
an ambulance arrived,” the EMC said in

a statement. Police later recovered a

Glock handgun, a wig and bicycle in

the nearby Spree river. A large sum of

money was found in the home of the

suspect, according to Der Tagesspiegel.

The victim was reportedly a veteran

of the second Chechen War from 1999

to 2009, where he served as a field

commander from 2001 to 2005, and

later joined a Georgian counter-terror-

ist unit.

In 2012, his Georgian special forces

unit engaged in an operation against

militants holding hostages in the re-

mote Lopota gorge near the border

with Russia’s Dagestan republic.

German media said the murder was

believed to be a revenge killing related

to the victim’s military past.

One of his sons said Khangoshvili, a

father of five, had survived four previ-

ous attempts on his life. EMC said the

last attack happened in May 2015 in

Tbilisi when “unknown people shot

him eight times while Khangoshvili

was driving, but by chance he escaped

death. The Khangoshvili family was

forced to leave Georgia and seek refuge

in another country.” For several years,

they had been living in Berlin under as-

sumed identities, German media said.

German police had listed him as po-

tentially a militant Islamist for reasons

still unclear, Bild reported.

Sánchez, Spain’s caretaker prime min-

ister, sent his sympathies to the fami-

lies of the dead.

He wrote on Twitter: “My solidarity

and love for the families of the victims

that lost their lives in this tragic acci-

dent.” The Balearic Islands govern-

ment said an investigation into the

cause of the tragedy had been

launched.

More than nine million holidaymak-

ers visit Majorca every year. Of those,

more than two million are British.

As many as 500 cruise ships now

dock in Palma each year, depositing up

to 22,000 passengers a day.

One of his sons said

Khangoshvili had

survived four previous

attacks on his life

The Daily Telegraph Monday 26 August 2019 ** 13

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