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Police today (July 26) have issued the Letter of No Objection (LONO) to the organiser of the public meetings and procession to be held on Hong Kong Island on July 28. To ensure public safety and public order and to strike a balance between the rights of the participants and other road users, Police have imposed a number of conditions upon the public events.
Police were received a notification from an organisation on July 25 of its intention to hold public meetings and procession on Hong Kong Island on July 28. A public meeting will be held at East Point Road Pedestrian Precinct, Lockhart Road Pedestrian Precinct, Great George Street Pedestrian Precinct, Patterson Street Pedestrian Precinct and one half of the pedestrian way adjacent to the carriageway on the westbound of Patterson Street at 2.30pm. The public procession will then start at 3pm and proceed along the agreed route via Yee Wo Street, Hennessy Road, Queensway, Rodney Street, Harcourt Road and finish at the East Wing Forecourt of the Central Government Offices at Tim Mei Avenue in Central where another public meeting will be held until 6.30pm.
Upon receipt of the notification, Police maintained close communication with the organiser and offered advice and assistance. As the pedestrian flow on public holidays are extremely busy at the above-stated venue of public meeting (East Point Road Pedestrian Precinct, Lockhart Road Pedestrian Precinct, Great George Street Pedestrian Precinct, Patterson Street Pedestrian Precinct and the pedestrian way on the westbound of Patterson Street), any time after commencement of the public meeting, if the people gathering at the scene are heavily congested, enhancing the risk of endangering public safety or public order, the organiser should do their utmost to assist Police so that the procession should start off as soon as possible to relieve congestion. Police have already included the conditions in the LONO.
Police have no intention at all in impeding peopleˇ¦s right of expression. In fact, Police did suggest to the organiser to consider Victoria Park which has a larger holding capacity for the public meeting but was not accepted. In the LONO, the venue for the public meeting now includes several pedestrian precincts and the pedestrian way in the vicinity of East Point Road.
It is the policy of Police to help people conduct peaceful public activities and it is the duty of Police to adopt measures to ensure public safety and order. Police will cooperate with the organiser to arrange proper crowd management in order to facilitate a smooth and orderly procession.
The LONO has been uploaded to Police Public Page (www.police.gov.hk) for public viewing.
Police Report No. 334
Ends/Friday, July 26, 2013
Issued at HKT 20:53
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