Police fired pepper spray and arrested 53 people in Hong Kong, including two district councilors, who defied a ban against a march to demonstrate against an impending national security law that protesters say will destroy freedom of speech and other civil liberties in the city.

Dozens took part in the march from Jordan to Mong Kok in Hong Kong’s Kowloon district on Sunday afternoon, heeding online calls to protest against the law, which is expected to be passed by China’s legislature on Tuesday and take effect immediately on the Jul. 1 anniversary of the city’s return to China.

Police arrested 41 men and 12 women on charges of unlawful assembly, according to a statement released on Facebook.

“Despite repeated warnings from police, some protestors refused to leave and continued to chant slogans. Some even charged at police cordon lines on Dundas Street, so pepper spray was deployed,” the statement read.

Police began cordoning off Nathan Road — the main thoroughfare through the densely populated residential and commercial area — at around 3 p.m. when dozens of protesters started to spill onto the road, ignoring police demands to stay on the sidewalk. Some chanted slogans such as “See you all at Victoria Park on July 1.” Police on Saturday banned the annual Jul 1 rally marking the handover of Hong Kong from British to Chinese rule.

Police conducted searches on dozens of people that were present, while civilians were at one point caught in the pepper spray outside a shopping center in Mong Kok. Witnesses said that police deployed the pepper spray after an officer fell over while trying to disperse the crowd.

By around 7 p.m., riot police had pulled out of Mong Kok, leaving police cars to patrol the area.

Among those arrested were district councilors Ben Lam and Andy Chui. A group of pro-democracy district councilors from the Yau Tsim Mong district said Lam was only monitoring the process as part of his duties, but was “unreasonably arrested,” they said in a statement. They criticized the police for abusing their power and had gathered outside the Hung Hom police station at 9 p.m. to show support for Lam and others who were being detained there.

Separately, scuffles broke out near Long Ping station in the northwestern district of Yuen Long between a group supporting the law and some passersby, injuring a boy in the process.

A group of around 20 people, dressed in the white shirts associated with pro-Beijing groups, were collecting signatures from supporters of the law, according to witnesses at the scene.

One boy, who witnesses said appeared to be between 7 and 8 years old, wrote an X on the board. Scuffles then broke out between the group and passersby, in which the boy was said to have been hit in the face.

Police arrived at the scene at around 7 p.m. and brought several people to the police station for questioning. The boy was sent to hospital for an examination.

Click here for Chinese version.

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