Three founders of the recent protests in Hong Kong have announced Tuesday they are to surrender to police Wednesday.
Benny Tai, Chan Kin-man and Chu Yiu-ming made the announcement in a press conference.
50-year-old Tai, a law professor at the University of Hong Kong who has been the face of the moment, said they were taking the move for the sake of the safety of the occupiers, adding that they urged students to retreat and take the spirit of the movement with them into the community.
The three will surrender at the Central Police Station at 3pm Wednesday for taking part in unauthorised assembly in occupied areas, violating Public Order Ordinance Section 17A(3).
OCLP - surrender is not an act of cowardice, it is courage to bear responsibility, is not failure but denunciation of heartless government— Occupy Central 和平佔中 (@OCLPHK) December 2, 2014
Tai said he didn't know what would happen when they handed themselves in, but told the press conference they are ready for the consequences.
Rev Chu Yiu-ming held back his tears as he uttered the phrase:"We mourn for HK. God bless our city." #OccupyHK #umhk pic.twitter.com/NXWkDW7rRN— Jeffie Lam (@jeffielam) December 2, 2014
They told press that the message to the government is that even if you clear the occupied sites you can't clear people's demands for democracy and you can't ignore their demands.
Democracy fight is long term; no immediate response from govt doesn't mean #UmbrellaMovement is a failure: @OCLPHK co-founder Chan Kin-man— Fion Li (@fion_li) December 2, 2014
The three men also urged student leaders of the protests to take a rest for the long fight for democracy. They said the focus from this point onwards would be to help democratic education and formulate a social charter.
On Monday, student activists from Hong Kong's pro-democracy movement began a hunger strike after violence clashes in the city on Sunday, in which 40 people were arrested and dozens injured.
18-year-old Joshua Wong announced the hunger strike in a Facebook post, asking the government to "immediately restart political reform" and begin an "open dialogue with students."
Two women from the activist group Scholarism said they were joining Wong.