Hong Kong court extends interim injunction at airport amid continuing threat of disturbances

Source:Xinhua Published: 2019/8/23 16:40:53

The High Court of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region on Friday extended an interim injunction at Hong Kong International Airport amid repeated calls in social media for further disturbances at the airport in the coming weekend.

After days of disturbances and violence by unlawful assemblies at the airport, the Airport Authority Hong Kong obtained on Aug. 13 an interim injunction from the court to restrain persons from unlawfully and willfully obstructing or interfering with the proper use of Hong Kong International Airport.

Judge Wilson Chan of the Court of First Instance of the High Court said Friday in the judgement that while disturbances at the airport have seemingly subsided after the grant of the interim injunction order on Aug. 13, there is evidence of continuing threats to the airport in the coming weekend, including repeated calls in the social media to obstruct access control points to prevent passengers from entering the airport.

"Given the continuing threat of disturbances at the airport, I have no hesitation in continuing the order to maintain the status quo until trial or further order of the court," said the judgement.

"The balance of convenience is strongly in favor of continuing the order," the judgement said, stressing that "the smooth running of the airport is of crucial significance to Hong Kong, in particular the security and safety of its citizens and travelers, its commercial interests, as well as its international reputation."

The airport authority put out advertisements on local newspapers on Friday, urging young people who love Hong Kong not to support or take part in any action that would obstruct the airport's operation or damage its international image, so as to avoid impact on the hundreds of thousands of people working in Hong Kong's industries of aviation, tourism, transport, logistics and trade.

Meanwhile, Seven civil aviation trade unions in Hong Kong issued a joint statement on Thursday, strongly condemning the demonstrators' attempt for continuing disturbances at the airport and appealing to the public not to participate in the illegal activities.

The demonstrators' earlier storming and besiege of the airport has inflicted immeasurable losses on Hong Kong International Airport's reputation and business, the statement said, criticizing the demonstrators for their extremely selfish act of damaging the livelihood of large numbers of airport employees.

Posted in: SOCIETY

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