‘Wear black and join street booths on June 12’: Hong Kong activist urges protesters to mark anniversary of clashes with police
- Ventus Lau expects his plan for a large rally to be banned by police on social-distancing grounds but intends to launch protests once Covid-19 ban lifts
- Councillors to man booths displaying photos of protests, with larger stall in Edinburgh Place attended by a pastor leading hymns
Activists have called on Hongkongers to don black and join street booths on June 12 as the city marks a full year since anti-government protesters clashed with police outside the legislature.
Rally organiser Ventus Lau Wing-hong announced that he would postpone a planned assembly at Tamar Park, with police expected to ban the move under current Covid-19 social-distancing rules.
Lau decided to press ahead instead with street booths in 12 districts and a religious gathering in Central to remind the public about the protests.
“June 12 was a turning point. We have successfully stopped the extradition bill which we earlier thought was impossible, and sparked the coming epic protests,” Lau said on Monday. “We have to commemorate this fighting spirit, and continue it to explore a way out for Hong Kong.”
Despite a mass rally on June 9 last year, when an estimated 1 million people took to the streets to protest against the now-withdrawn extradition bill, the government forged on with the legislation in Legco for a second debate on June 12.
The bill would have allowed fugitives to be sent to mainland China and other jurisdictions with which Hong Kong has no exchange arrangement.
Tens of thousands of people then blocked streets near Legco that day, forcing the suspension of the meeting. Police fired tear gas and rubber bullets at the crowd, and authorities classified the clashes as a “riot”.
Lau applied to police in May to organise a rally marking the anniversary of the protests. But on Monday he said he would postpone it tentatively to June 19, the first day following the lifting of a ban on public gatherings of more than eight people.
One year on, with the national security law looming, have protesters lost?
“The government has repeatedly extended the restriction on social gathering, but resumed schools and work at the same time. It is obvious that the authorities have suppressed our freedoms to assemble in the name of fighting the virus,” Lau said.
“We very much need an assembly to demonstrate our will to the government, to Beijing and to the world. So whenever the government drops the restriction, we will hold the assembly.”
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A year of anti-government protests in Hong Kong
Lau said councillors from at least 12 districts would set up street booths on June 12, displaying photos of the protests, with one larger booth in Edinburgh Place in Central attended by a pastor who would lead people in singing hymns.
He called on participants to wear black and sing the protest anthem Glory to Hong Kong at 8pm.
“The public can choose their way to commemorate based on the extent to which they can bear the legal risks,” Lau said, adding organisers would observe social-distancing rules but remain wary of being charged by police.
Last week, health minister Sophia Chan Siu-chee dismissed the idea that there were political considerations behind the extension of the ban on public gatherings, saying the government only looked at public health factors.