Hong Kong protests: police ban planned rally outside Cathay Pacific HQ
- Confederation of Trade Unions wanted to hold rally on Wednesday in response to sacking of cabin crew head
- Rebecca Sy claims she was dismissed over Facebook post although airline has not commented
The organiser of a rally planned at Cathay Pacific’s offices near the airport is seeking to move the protest to Central after losing an appeal to overturn a police ban.
Confederation of Trade Unions (CTU) chairman Carol Ng Man-yee expressed disappointment with the ruling. She said her union was applying to police to stage a rally on Wednesday in Edinburgh Place instead, starting from 4pm.
Police objected and the Appeal Board on Public Meetings and Processions upheld the ban after hearing arguments from both sides on Tuesday night.
Cathay Pacific City is about a 30-minute walk from the airport terminal.
Police have banned a number of protests in recent weeks, citing public safety. The Civil Human Rights Front’s protest on August 18, which they said attracted 1.7 million, was only authorised to be a rally at Victoria Park.
The Tsuen Wan march on Sunday was also prohibited but eventually allowed after police and organisers reached a compromise over the route. But, still, it descended into violent clashes.
“The CTU strongly condemns police for jeopardising the freedom of assembly by citizens and has immediately appealed to the Appeal Board on Public Meetings and Processions,” veteran unionist and ex-lawmaker Lee Cheuk-yan said.
Citing the “general societal atmosphere”, police were not convinced the CTU could control the behaviour of people taking part or the safety of passers-by.
Cathay had earlier warned employees not to join the rally, which was a response to the abrupt dismissal of Rebecca Sy On-na.
The airline neither confirmed nor denied Sy’s allegation that she was fired over a Facebook post.
The Airport Authority originally obtained its injunction after a peaceful five-day sit-in turned ugly and resulted in the cancellation of 979 flights.
The order expressly prohibited “attending or participating in any demonstration or protest” in the entire airport area.
According to the floor plan attached to the injunction, the order covered the whole of Chek Lap Kok, the island where the airport and Cathay’s headquarters are located.
Chief Superintendent John Tse Chun-chung of the force’s public relations branch could not tell whether the city’s railway operator would close train stations on Wednesday, stressing police did not take part in deciding service closures ahead of the protests last weekend.
“Police did not, do not and will not intervene in their [MTR Corporation] decision-making,” he said.
Additional reporting by Kanis Leung
