Hong Kong Police to Clear Main Protest Site on December 11

Demonstrators must leave the main protest camp in China’s semiautonomous region of Hong Kong before 09:00 (01:00 GMT) on Thursday, according to the High Court’s ruling. After that, police will start dismantling tents and barricades, blocking the traffic in the area.

MOSCOW, December 9 (Sputnik) — Honk Kong authorities will begin to dismantle barricades, tents and other obstructions in the main protest site of Admiralty on December 11, following an injunction issued by the High Court, Reuters reports, citing local media.

The injunction was granted to a local bus company, All China Express Ltd, on December 1, on the grounds that protests are hurting its business. It allows authorities to clear three parts of the main protest camp in the Admiralty district, which houses the government headquarters. As many as 3,000 police officers are expected to participate in the clearing effort, South China Morning Post reports, citing police sources.

Protesters are to leave the area before 09:00 (01:00 GMT) on Thursday, according to BBC. "What I would like to do now is to perhaps make a public plea to the students to stay away from the scene when there is plenty of time," said Paul Tse, a lawyer for the bus company, as quoted by the Associated Press.

Although many activists are considering moving out of the protests site, some have vowed to stay outside the injunction area. "This station and the volunteers (here) are forming a defence line," Mani Chan warned, as quoted by Reuters. "We're going to stay anyway," he added.

"You do see people moving from the court injunction area, but they are not retreating entirely," a 31-year-old protester told AFP. "I can’t speak for everyone, but people here are willing to be arrested," he stated.

Demonstrators took to the streets in late September to protest against Beijing’s decision to vet candidates who will participate in the election of Hong Kong’s chief executive in 2017. The poll will be the first of its kind in the history of the region. The demonstrations are estimated to have attracted as many as 100,000 people at the height of the protest movement. They have since lost their momentum.

Many Hong Kong residents have argued that the ongoing protests are hurting local businesses, urging activists to go home, according to polls conducted by Hong Kong University and the Chinese University of Hong Kong. Last month authorities cleared a major protest site in the Mong Kok district following a separate court ruling. The injunctions were granted to local transport companies.