Rally organizer to appeal against ban on July 1 march
The organizer of Hong Kong’s annual July 1 rally will appeal against the police’s decision to ban the march, criticizing the force for suppressing the city’s freedoms.
The march organizer Civil Human Rights Front received on Saturday the police’s letter of objection to the application for the annual rally on July 1, the day marking the 23rd anniversary of Hong Kong’s handover from British to Chinese rule.
The police rejected the application citing the need for social distancing measures amid the coronavirus pandemic and also on the grounds of outbreaks of violence in previous marches organized by the front.
In the letter, the police also said they believed the organizer would not be able to control the actions of participants, and that would put at risk several important buildings, such as the government headquarters, the High Court and MTR stations, along the rally route from Causeway Bay to Admiralty.
The front’s convenor Jimmy Sham, while not surprised by the police’s decision, said using the outbreaks of violence after rallies to justify the ban is unreasonable and that to assemble and attend marches are basic human rights.
“Just because people rob banks, banks shouldn’t exist?” Sham said, adding that the police were just trying to make up any excuses to bar protests.
Sham said the police banning rallies would go down in history, marking how human rights in Hong Kong have degraded since 1997.
The front had also written earlier to Hong Kong’s Chief Secretary Matthew Cheung asking for permission for the mass rally to be held on grounds of public interest, sources said.
However, Cheung’s office replied saying that the government needs to adopt different measures to limit the coronavirus spread in the community. It also said the July 1 rally does not meet social distancing conditions and requirements based on the information it was given.
Civil Rights Observer, a group that sends volunteers to monitor any human rights abuses at the frontlines of protests, accused the police of suppressing people’s freedom of assembly.
Unless the police had strong evidence to show that the organizer intended to hold a violent rally, the group said, they should presume the march would be peaceful in nature and make sure public order is maintained during the procession.
Last year, hundreds of thousands had marched peacefully on the city’s streets on the day, but violent clashes between the police and protesters broke out subsequently in the evening.
A group of protesters also took siege of the Legislative Council and vandalized the legislature chambers, spraying slogans on walls and defacing portraits of political leaders.
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