Hong Kong cordons off annual Tiananmen vigil site, arrests organiser
Gulf Times
Police officers stop a man to search him outside Victoria Park on the 32nd anniversary of the crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrators at Beijing's Tiananmen Square in 1989, in Hong Kong, China
* Police arrest annual Tiananmen vigil organiser * Tiananmen vigil banned in HK for second year in a row * Police close vigil site Victoria Park * Activists say ban suppresses democratic freedom * Online calls for 'home light protest' Hong Kong closed off a park where tens of thousands gather annually to commemorate China's 1989 Tiananmen crackdown and arrested the vigil's organiser, in what activists see as suppression of one of the city's main symbols of democratic hope. Thousands of officers are expected to patrol the city's streets on Friday to prevent gatherings of people lighting candles for the pro-democracy protesters killed by Chinese troops in Beijing 32 years ago. The heightened vigilance from authorities was a marked departure from Hong Kong's cherished freedoms of speech and assembly, bringing the global financial hub closer in line with mainland China's strict controls on society, activists say.
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