Is it legal to attend June 4 vigil this year? Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam’s not telling
Chief Executive Carrie Lam on Tuesday dodged a question about whether Hongkongers could legally attend an annual candlelight vigil marking the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre, saying that only courts could decide questions of law.
Earlier in the day, local media suggested that authorities might take a hard-line approach toward this year’s June 4 vigil, which was traditionally held at Victoria Park in Causeway Bay but was banned last year. Participants this year would risk arrest and activists who were present might be barred from future elections, a report said, citing an anonymous source.
Asked about the legality of the vigil, Lam said she would not comment on “speculative reports.” The media was putting her on the spot by asking an impossible question, she added.
“The legality of any public gathering is determined by a system. You cannot make up a scenario and ask me to decide whether it’s permitted or not,” Lam said. “It depends on the situation, the intention of the parties involved, the law and the evidence.”
The responsibility of interpreting laws lay with Hong Kong’s courts, she added.
In June 2019, Lam acknowledged “a lot of people have memories” about the massacre and said the vigil’s existence was proof that Hong Kong was free.
“We respect the public’s freedom of speech and assembly, which are protected under the Basic Law,” she said at the time, adding that she hoped any public gatherings would take place “in a quiet and orderly manner.”
A year on, Hong Kong authorities banned the vigil for the first time in the event’s three-decade history, citing public health as the reason.
When she ran for chief executive in 2017, Lam said at an election forum that the massacre was a “deeply saddening event” and “history will be the judge.” The public should not just focus on the massacre, but also pay attention to subsequent developments in the country, she said.
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