Hong Kong protests: Six months of rage and desperation

On 9 June 2019, a massive protest took place in Hong Kong - a show of anger at planned changes to the territory's extradition laws.

The Extradition Law Amendment Bill (ELAB) would have cleared the way for criminal suspects to be sent abroad for trial, even to places with which Hong Kong does not have an extradition treaty.

The alarm was that this would mean people could be sent to mainland China for trial. Protesters said this would risk them having an unfair trial, and make it too easy for China to come after political opponents in Hong Kong.

Six months on, the bill has been dropped but the anger has grown, and is now focused on the government and allegations of police abuses.

Here are some of the most striking pictures from the past six months of Hong Kong protest and rage.

After the first mass protests, Hong Kong's government said they would suspend the bill - but that was not enough for its opponents. On 16 June, an estimated two million turned out to demand it be dropped altogether.

On 1 July, in one of the most dramatic moments of the protests, hundreds of people smashed their way into Hong Kong's government headquarters. They occupied the building overnight, defacing the city emblem and sprayed slogans on the walls.

Over the months of protest, a so-called hardcore group of protesters emerged. Dressed in all black and careful to hide their identities, they would face off with police after peaceful protests - creating a cycle of violence.

As police started using more severe anti-crowd measures against protesters the relationship between them deteriorated. Some in Hong Kong now allege police brutality and want an independent investigation into the force.

One of the key moments of the protest was in Yuen Long, where men wearing white shirts believed to be triad gang members attacked commuters. Police were late to the arrive the scene sparking allegations they deliberately stayed away.

In early September, police started using a new tactic - spraying indelible blue dye over the protesters, meaning those who ran away could be identified later. Thousands of people have been arrested in these six months.

On 30 September protesters formed a human chain that went across Hong Kong, a reference to the Baltic Way democracy protest that formed a human chain across Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania.

The protests have reached almost every corner of Hong Kong and caused significant disruption. This was one peaceful protests inside a shopping mall in Sha Tin, away from the main commercial centre.

'Lennon Walls' have become a feature of a city wracked by protest - underpasses and bridges have been plastered with messages of support, anger and solidarity. But they've sometimes become the scene of clashes themselves.

This woman, significantly older than most of the protesters, was a regular fixture at many of the gatherings. Waving the UK's flag, she became known as Grandma Wong, and told reporters she was worried about the future but also missed the colonial times. She has not been seen at the protests for some time.

One of the protesters' demands is that the governments stops categorising any of the protests as riots. They have pointed to images like this - crowds clearing out of the way of an ambulance - as proof they are organised and civic-minded.

How young some of the protesters are came into sharp focus when the Hong Kong Polytechnic University became the scene of a dramatic siege. Protesters barricaded themselves inside for days and fired petrol bombs and arrows at police. In the end secondary school principals went into convince some of their students to leave.

The scenes coming out of Hong Kong has led many to question why these protesters are willing to risk their life and freedom. Many of them believe their future is at stake.

And the past six months have shown the extent they will go to to preserve their unique Hong Kong identity and freedoms.

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