Police decision upheld by appeal board, which ruled that proposed event by Confederation of Trade Unions poses a serious threat to public health.
Group’s supporters say move could set a dangerous precedent that will allow authorities to ban rallies based just on health reasons.
Organisers of an annual Labour Day march in Hong Kong have said they would set up street booths across the city after losing an appeal against a police ban.
The independent appeal board that ruled in favour of police on Wednesday said the march proposed by the Confederation of Trade Unions (CTU) could pose a serious threat to public health.
After losing the appeal, the pro-democracy CTU said it would set up more than 50 street booths with the help of district councillors to disseminate anti-epidemic information and express support for the anti-government movement at multiple locations on Friday afternoon.
The labour group’s chairwoman Carol Ng Man-yee (HKCTU) said each booth would be manned by not more than four persons. “Our union members have the wisdom and experience to ensure that we will comply with the social-distancing rules,” she said.
Police warned that those insisting on joining events with an attendance of more than four would be deemed to be in an unlawful activity and could face up to five years’ imprisonment. This was regardless of whether groups were spaced 1.5 metres (5 feet) apart – a rule imposed on restaurants.
Police had banned CTU’s proposal to hold its annual rally – expected to draw 3,000 people – to fight for the rights of workers amid the coronavirus pandemic. The group had promised to adopt social-distancing measures in its planned march along Hennessy Road.
Appeal board head Christopher Chan Yiu-chong said the march could pose a “serious threat” to public health and safety.
In the 1½-hour hearing held on Wednesday afternoon, board member and dentist Eugene Chan Kin-keung also expressed doubt that social-distancing measures proposed by CTU, including requiring marchers to proceed in groups of four and keep their masks on, could eliminate infection risks.
Carol Ng (HKCTU) from the labour group argued that they were willing to step up whatever was deemed useful to lower risks.
“We can ask marchers to keep a safer distance of 2 or 3 metres. Or even ask them to wear protective goggles,” she said, adding that a ban would deprive workers of their rights to express how they had been hit hard by the virus.
The government counsel representing police, Louie Chan Ka-hang, said the force had the responsibility to ensure that protesters and citizens were not at risk.
“The 3,000 to 3,500 marchers have to assemble at a location for a certain period of time before starting the march,” he said. “Solid evidence shows that the virus can easily spread in crowded places.”
Veteran activist and HKCTU secretary general Lee Cheuk-yan, who was also at the hearing, said the police decision on Monday stood on murky legal ground. He claimed the Public Order Ordinance did not empower the force to ban rallies using reasons of “public health protection”.
Lee Cheuk-yan cited a ruling by the Court of Final Appeal, saying that the ordinance only allowed the police commissioner to oppose protests in the interests of national security or public safety.
The group’s supporters expressed worry that the appeal board’s decision set a dangerous precedent, allowing police to ban coming rallies on the pretext of public health.
The pro-democracy camp is planning commemorative activities over the next few months to mark
– the anniversaries of the Tiananmen Square crackdown on June 4, 1989,
– Hong Kong’s return to China on July 1, 1997, the first large-scale protests against the now-withdrawn extradition bill last June.
At noon on Wednesday 29, a handful of people returned to Central for a “Lunch with You” protest, as part of renewed anti-government activities after a hiatus of several months.
Dozens of bystanders watched on at the nearby Landmark mall before police arrived and protesters dispersed.