DPA

HONG KONG AROUND 1,000 people took part in a protest marching Hong Kong on Sunday demanding a full investigation into the death of Chinese dissident Li Wangyang.

Dressed in black, the protesters marched to the Chinese government’s liaison office in central Hong Kong. A separate group around 100 protesters wearing blindfolds also staged a protest outside the liaison office.

Li, who had served more than two decades in jail after being arrested for his involvement in the 1989 pro-democracy movement in China, was found hanged from a window in a hospital room in Hunan province on Wednesday.

Anger over his death escalated after he was reportedly cremated on Saturday without his family’s consent.

Doctors said Li, 62, who is said to have lost his eyesight and hearing through mistreatment in custody, committed suicide but his family and supporters said his death was suspicious because his feet were on the floor when he was found.

Hong Kong, a former British colony, reverted to Chinese rule in 1997 but retains freedoms of speech and protest denied to people in mainland China. Last week, a record crowd estimated by organisers at 180,000 staged a candlelight vigil in Hong Kong to mark the 23rd anniversary of the crushing of the 1989 pro-democracy movement in Beijing.