Hong Kong court rejects protesters' bid to appeal

The Court of Appeal of the High Court of Hong Kong Saturday refused Occupy Central protesters' bid to appeal against an injunction which allows the police to assist bailiffs in clearing the barricades in occupied areas of Mong Kok as well as their request to stay the injunction.

The high court Monday ruled that police could assist bailiffs to clear the barricades in shopping district Mong Kok and vehicle entrances of a commercial building in Admiralty, extending the injunctions issued Oct 20 for the second time. The order was first extended Oct 27.

The injunction order was obtained by taxi and minibus drivers who said their businesses were being affected by the protests, which have blocked sections of some of Mong Kok's main roads since the end of September.

The Occupy Central protesters asked for leave to appeal the court order on the grounds that the drivers' groups failed to show they had sustained substantial damages to ask for the injunction order.

The High Court judges said they found the trial judge was correct to rule that the road blockages in an area of "as busy as central and Mong Kok" would cause the professional drivers who earned their living from public transport services to suffer, according to Xinhua.

"We see no reasonable prospect of persuading the court on appeal to take any view other than that there is a serious issue to be tried regarding the plaintiffs' actual and potential damage," the judges wrote.

The judges then dismissed the protesters' application.

Several main roads in the busiest areas of Hong Kong have been occupied by protesters for over seven weeks.