Activist Joshua Wong and his girlfriend, Chin Sze-man, also a member of pro-democracy student group Scholarism, were assaulted in Tai Kok Tsui at around midnight last night.
The motives and identities of the assailants are currently unknown, HKDash reports.
Joshua Wong posted a statement to his Facebook page last night immediately after the attack. Here is the translation:
“I am on my way to Kwong Wah Hospital. On June 28, 2015, at 9:40pm, [Tiffany] Chin Sze-man and I went to Olympian City to watch a movie, and we left at around 11:45pm. We planned on heading to the Mong Kok MTR Station to go home.
At 12:02am, Chin and I were on Elm Street in Tai Kok Tsui when we saw a couple in their 20s. As we passed them (they were about two metres away), the man suddently rushed towards me and grabbed my neck, punching my left eye, and making my glasses fly off. Chin tried to block the man, resulting in the man kicking and punching both Chin and I.
[…] I get attacked even when I’m just on my way home after watching a movie, and they’ll even attack my girlfriend too. Shameful.”
According to the HKDash report, which gives more details about the attack, the male assailant choked and punched Wong, knocking him over, then proceeded to drag Chin by her hair, who was filming the assault. Then Wong was repeatedly kicked and punched by the man.
The pair fled after the assault in different directions. No arrests have been made.
Wong and Chin reported the incident to the police and were taken to hospital for treatment.
Scholarism condemned the attack and urged the police to investigate the case.
“We cannot predict whether there will be similar acts of violence in the future, but we hope this will not happen again,” the group wrote on their Facebook page.
“Scholarism will continue without fear of intimidation, bravely using our voice and working hard for democracy in Hong Kong. The student movement: fearless.”
Chin said on the radio this morning that there are possible witnesses to the attack, as pedestrians were nearby at the time, reports the SCMP.
Additional reporting: Thomas Chan
Photo: Joshua Wong via Facebook
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