HONG KONG, May 5 (Xinhua) -- Commissioner of Police of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government Chris Tang Ping-keung said Tuesday that more than 40 percent of people arrested in months of last year's unrest were students.

File photo: CGTN

A total of 8,001 arrests related to the unrest were made from June 2019 to mid-April this year, Tang said at a meeting of the Legislative Council. Of all, 1,365 people were prosecuted and 566 were charged with rioting.

Tang stressed that 3,286 students were arrested during the period and the involvement of high school students surged since December.

Tang said the young people were victims who were incited to conduct illegal acts and misled by fake news to hate the government and police, and condemned those who preached violence for their political interests, misguided teenagers and put the blame to the government and police.

The involvement of students in violent incidents since last year has stoked concerns in Hong Kong and calls are rising to stop politicizing schools. Recently, a 15-year-old young man was arrested for throwing petrol bombs on the street.