The Civil Human Rights Front – the organization behind record-breaking marches that have drawn hundreds of thousands of people to the streets in recent months – have lost their appeal against a police ban on a National Day march for Tuesday on Hong Kong Island.
HK01 reports that lawyer Douglas Kwok, who was representing CHRF, had argued before the Appeal Board on Public Meetings and Processions this morning that the organization doesn’t encourage violence and has always been a staunch advocate of peaceful protests, and that banning public assemblies doesn’t necessarily bring peace to the streets,
Kwok also added that recent months have shown that violent clashes may start earlier if people aren’t allowed to attend a peaceful rally, and that it’s important to give non-violent protesters space to express their views in a peaceful and rational manner in a legal assembly.
The attorney specifically cited Saturday’s rally at Tamar Park, which was organised by the CHRF to commemorate the fifth anniversary of the Umbrella Movement. The rally began peacefully and organizers decided to end it half an hour early after more radical protesters occupied the highway outside the park. Those who had attended the peaceful rally dispersed quickly.
But senior police superintendent Jim Ng warned that there was a very high risk that protests on National Day would turn violent, that it would be unsafe for anyone to take part in any demonstrations, and that it would be difficult for CHRF to ensure the proceedings went peacefully.
Pang Kin-kee, the appeals board chairman, accepted arguments put forward by the police, officially upholding the ban, which means that protesters gathering tomorrow could be arrested for taking part in an illegal rally.
Speaking to reporters outside the appeals board building today, CHRF convenor Jimmy Sham said he was “saddened” by the decision to uphold the ban, and that Hongkonger’s freedoms were being further undermined.
Sham also said that although the CHRF rally has been canceled, he encouraged everyone to wear black, the color of choice worn by pro-democracy protesters. He added that he would respect each person’s decision to protest tomorrow, and encouraged people to “be peaceful, don’t get injured, don’t shed blood, and don’t get arrested.”
The group’s vice convenor, Bonnie Leung, echoed those sentiments, adding: “We will send our blessings to all the people who will go to the streets tomorrow. We bless you, and we also urge everybody, please be safe and do not make sacrifices. Everybody, be water and be safe.”
CHRF’s National Day rally is an annual event that draws thousands of people every year, and is typically used to raise awareness of pro-democracy causes and issues. However, since the anti-extradition bill protests began, police have taken to banning these rallies as they’ve followed the same script in the last few months of starting out peacefully before ending with clashes between police and radical protesters who stay behind.
Tomorrow’s rally was scheduled to start in the afternoon from Victoria Park in Causeway Bay and end Chater Garden in Central.
However, the past few months have shown that even when police ban a rally from taking place, people tend to still turn up in huge numbers, such as the July 27 rally in Yuen Long and Aug. 31 event marking the fifth anniversary of Beijing’s rejection of universal suffrage.
Protesters using Reddit-like forum LIHKG and messaging app Telegram have been circulating messages online calling for rallies in six districts, including Sha Tin, Sham Shui Po, Tuen Mun, Tsuen Wan, Wan Chai, and Wong Tai Sin.
While Civil Human Rights Front is appealing against police’s objection to the march on 10.1 National Day, protesters are calling for rallies in six districts, including Tsuen Wan, Tuen Mun, Sha Tin, Wan Chai, Wong Tai Sin and Sham Shui Po. #HongKongProtests pic.twitter.com/qdu8HZSjll
— Rachel Cheung (@rachel_cheung1) September 30, 2019
This year’s National Day celebrations – which will commemorate the 70th year of the founding of the People’s Republic of China – will be somewhat muted in Hong Kong. The flag-raising ceremony, which is usually held in Golden Bauhinia Square in Wan Chai, will be held indoors; the fireworks show on Victoria Harbour has been canceled; and Chief Executive Carrie Lam will be snubbing the Hong Kong festivities and celebrate the founding of the motherland in Beijing instead
