Occupy Central Leaders Turn Themselves in to Hong Kong Police

The three leaders of the Occupy Central with Love and Peace movement voluntarily surrendered to police Wednesday, as announced Tuesday, after urging the student activists to stop the protests and go home.

The reverend Chu Yiu-ming, alongside with the Law Professor Benny Tai and the sociologist Chan Kin-man decided to turn themselves in to the police for fear that the protests would end in violence, after the clashes between demonstrators and the police, Sunday night and early Monday, when the protesters tried to surround some government offices in the Admiralty district.

Tai said, when he announced their surrender, “We can see that some frontline police officers seem to be out of control. How much violence will there be? Our call to retreat now is out of love for the occupiers. At this moment we should all protect ourselves and leave this very dangerous place."

The leaders turned themselves in becuase the protests were deemed illegal by the authorities. They wanted to take responsibility for the “illegal” actions. Another 21 people also handed themselves in following the leaders of the movement.

Supporters of the Occupy Central movement and also pro-Beijing supporters met outside the police station; while the supporters of the movement shouted, “I want true democracy,” the detractors shouted “Go to jail!”

Within an hour after handing themselves in, the leaders of the movement were released without charges. The Hong Kong government said through a statement, “Police will conduct follow-up investigations based on the information provided.”

Tai, said after being released that he does not regret having started the movement which helped rising political consciousness among the population. “In hindsight, I would still do the same thing,” he said. “I do not regret for what I’ve done.”

The protests in Hong kong are demanding a democratic election for the 2017 city’s chief executive elections.