Hong Kong police filmed using pepper spray, beating protester

Police in Hong Kong have been filmed beating a handcuffed protester and using pepper spray to disperse others as their crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrations escalates.

Hong Kong authorities have said they will suspend police involved in the apparent incident of brutality, which went viral overnight after being filmed by Hong Kong's local TVB station. The video appears to show a group of plain-clothes police officers punching, kicking and beating a protester whose hands are tied behind his back in a sustained attack.

The man has been identified as social worker and Civic Party member Ken Tsang Kin Chiu. In response to the footage, Amnesty International director for Hong Kong Mabel Au said it was "stomach churning to think there are Hong Kong police officers that feel they are above the law". Chiu has received medical treatment and Amnesty International say he will be interviewed by police later today.

This appears to be a vicious attack against a detained man who posed no threat to the police.

• Amnesty International's Mabel Au

Separately footage emerged of police using pepper spry to clear Lung Wo Road road in downtown Hong Kong in the early hours of Wednesday. Protesters were tackled to the ground while the umbrellas they use to protect themselves from pepper spray were ripped away. During the operation 45 people were arrested.

Chong Hau-yi, a 30-year-old pro-democracy protester told the South China Morning Post: "You can see the police savagely ripping protesters’ masks off and spraying them with pepper spray; it's really scary.

"It's not a fair, one-on-one fight. If that was the case yesterday, it wouldn't have been so bad. But in the video we saw, it's six against one person who had no intention of fighting back, which is just horrible. The police are worse than animals."

More: The police response to pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong in one video