"The police arrests will just motivate more secondary school or university students to come to the streets," said protest leader Joshua Wong outside the police station as he and three others handed themselves in to authorities, according to AFP.
Wong added that the charges against him had not yet been spelled out by police, which he labelled "irresponsible," adding that he was "worried the police will try to abuse their power but I still respect the law system in Hong Kong."
The "Umbrella Movement" began after student groups demanded that elections to appoint a new Hong Kong Chief Executive in 2017 should be held according to the principle of universal suffrage, and not on the basis of a Beijing-approved list of candidates. The protests ended in mid-December, when their protest sites were cleared by authorities.
Despite the initial momentum of the democracy campaign, it ebbed away after several months as the Hong Kong and Beijing governments refused to yield and local residents became frustrated with the disruption to normal life. However, those arriving at the police station were positive about the future of their activism: "I am still confident and optimistic for further action and the further Umbrella Movement, and continue to fight for universal suffrage," Wong told Reuters on Friday, flanked by dozens of fellow activists holding yellow umbrellas and shouting slogans of support.
