Organisers of last year's rally are told Victoria Park is already taken this year
Organisers' efforts to book six football pitches at Victoria Park for a repeat of the July 1 mass rally have been blocked by a mysterious third party.
The Civil Human Rights Front yesterday notified the police of the march - which they estimated would attract about 100,000 people. It will start in Victoria Park, move to Causeway Bay, and finish at government headquarters in Central.
Jackie Hung Ling-yu, convenor of the Front's Democratic Development and People's Livelihood Working Group, said they had tried last month to book the whole park for July 1.
But the group was told by park staff that all six football pitches had been reserved. They were told they could only book the central lawn and the kiosk, Ms Hung said.
Yesterday police phoned staff at Victoria Park to check out the bookings, she said. But it could not be determined who had reserved the pitches.
'They [the staff of the park] don't know who made the reservations, because the person in charge of reservations at that time has resigned,' Ms Hung said.