A Hong Kong appeal board rejected a bid by the organizers of the June 4 vigil to overturn a police objection to the event, saying that the city’s COVID-19 vaccination rate was not satisfactory.

The failed appeal means that the candlelight vigil in Victoria Park, held annually on June 4 to memorialize the victims of the Tiananmen Square massacre in 1989, will now not take place for the second successive year.

Richard Tsoi, of the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China, argued that the law which gives the police the right to object to public meetings is based on the need to protect public order and public safety, but it does not empower them to use public health as their justification.

Tsoi said, while acknowledging that the group gathering ban implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic was still in effect, the infection rate had clearly slowed compared to the same period in 2020.

The police’s legal representative Aaron Lam said that the police did not have a “one-size-fits-all” approach to making decisions, and the pandemic situation was among the factors that the police could take into consideration. He said the pandemic had not yet passed, and though the number of infections had receded, they could bounce back quickly.

Lam added that the police had no reason to believe the organizers’ assurances that they could maintain social distancing among participants.

He also pointed out that the Cheung Chau Bun Carnival had also been cancelled two years in a row due to public health considerations.

Following the rejected appeal, Tsoi apologized to the public and said that the Alliance would bite the bullet and continue its work.

The Security Bureau later issued a statement warning that the June 4 vigil was an unauthorized assembly, and it would be a criminal offense to take part in it or publicize it.

Click here for Chinese version

---------------------------------

Apple Daily’s all-new English Edition is now available on the mobile app: bit.ly/2yMMfQE

To download the latest version,

iOS: bit.ly/AD_iOS

Android: bit.ly/AD_android

Or search Appledaily in App Store or Google Play