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Following are the opening remarks by the Assistant Commissioner of Police (Operations), Mr Cheung Tak-keung, at the press conference today (June 12).
Police have issued a Letter of No Objection (LONO) to an organisation regarding a notification about a large-scale public order event to be conducted from June 14 to 19, 2015. Details of the Letter of No Objection have been uploaded to the Police Public Page. According to the notification, they will hold a public procession from Victoria Park to the area outside the Legislative Council (LegCo) Complex this Sunday (June 14). After that, they will hold public meetings in the vicinity of the LegCo Complex during the period before and after the constitutional reform package to be debated. The Appeal Board on Public Meetings and Processions yesterday (June 11) rejected the appeal to use Tim Mei Avenue for the public meetings and pointed out that Tim Mei Avenue is an important traffic thoroughfare. If Tim Mei Avenue is used for the public meetings, the traffic flow will be impeded and risk will be posed. Police welcome the ruling. We hope that the organiser also respects the ruling.
Recently, Police have found messages on the Internet advocating violent protests. Some organisations even indicated that they would resort to violent acts to demonstrate and express their demands during the public order events. From past experiences, some radicals illegally occupied the roads and some used mills barriers and bricks to violently attack the LegCo Complex, causing serious damage.
Besides, woods, nails, glass bottles, etc. have been found near the illegally erected tents on the pavement outside the LegCo Complex and the Central Government Complex on Tim Mei Avenue and Harcourt Road. Some of the tents have even been installed with closed-circuit television cameras (CCTV) and code locks. It is possible that these items will pose risk to the public order events to be held in the vicinity in the coming few days. At earlier time, Police have made appeals to persons concerned to promptly remove those items and have also taken photos for record purpose. Since a public meeting will be held in the area of Tim Mei Avenue in the afternoon tomorrow, Police appeal to the persons concerned to remove those items before noon tomorrow. For those unclaimed items, Police will move them to police stations for safe keeping, pending the claim of owners.
Police notice that parties with different views will organise public order events at similar locations. Police reiterate that it is our duty to ensure public safety and public order. Parties with different views should use peaceful and lawful means to express their views and should not do any provocative acts. We will take resolute actions against all kinds of illegal acts.
I would like to take this opportunity to remind the general public a few points:
First of all, most of the laws in the real world are also applicable to the cyber world. Any person committing an illegal act must bear the consequences and criminal liability. Section 161 of the Crimes Ordinance (Cap. 200) stipulates the legislation against illegal acts relating to ¡§access to computer with criminal or dishonest intent¡¨. In addition to the offences relating to ¡§online deception¡¨ and ¡§access to computer with criminal or dishonest intent¡¨, any person who makes use of the computer to commit other offences, encourages or incites others to commit other illegal acts also commits the said offence.
Secondly, according to section 19 of the Legislative Council (Powers and Privileges) Ordinance (Cap. 382), anyone who assaults, obstructs or molests any member going to, being within or going from the precincts of the Chamber commits an offence. Police appeal to participants of the public order events not to obstruct any members of the Council while in the execution of his or her duty in order to refrain from committing any criminal offence.
Finally, I appeal to members of the public not to provoke Police officers in their execution of duties. If anyone maliciously injures Police officers, charges Police cordon lines or incites others to charge the Police cordon lines, Police will take resolute enforcement actions to stop the violent and illegal acts so as to uphold the law and order.
I wish to reiterate that Police respect people's freedom of expression, speech and assembly. It is our policy to facilitate members of the public to conduct peaceful and lawful public order events. At the same time, it is also our responsibility to ensure public safety and public order, and to strike an appropriate balance between the rights of the participants to express their views and to the daily life and livelihood of the general public. I emphasise that it is of the utmost importance and necessity for Police to ensure public safety, public order, as well as the rights for other members of the community in public order events.
To this end, I would like to make the following appeals:
I appeal to all organisations and members taking part in the public order events to obey the law, comply with the conditions set in the Letter Of No Objection, co-operate with Police, follow Police officers¡¦ advice and instructions. Do not take any violent or aggressive action. Police will not tolerate any violent and illegal behaviour and will take resolute actions to restore public order and public confidence.
Besides, I appeal to all members of the public to express their views in a peaceful and lawful manner and not to be incited to commit any illegal acts or to take part in any violent and illegal activities. If you encounter any confrontations, please be vigilant of your personal safety, keep a distance away from radicals and make rooms for Police to handle the incidents immediately.
Lastly, Police are absolutely confident and have the capability to deal with any unforeseen circumstances and incidents. When Police officers are executing their duties to deal with confrontational situations, members of the public should not gather to look on and should spare enough space for our officers to handle the incidents to avoid unnecessary injuries.
I would like to make a few concluding remarks. Firstly, Police respect the expression of views of different parties, but I hope that they can express their views in a peaceful and lawful way. With a view to ensuring public safety and public order, we will deploy sufficient manpower and conduct necessary arrangement according to the situation, so that the public could express their views in a safe environment.
Secondly, the Appeal Board on Public Meetings and Processions has already made the ruling, pointing out that Tim Mei Avenue is a major traffic thoroughfare. We appeal to the public not to block and occupy relevant roads illegally. Otherwise the Police will take appropriate action to restore the situation.
Finally, any person who assaults, obstructs or molests any member going to, being within or going from the precincts of the LegCo Chamber, commits an offence. Police appeal to all relevant parties and persons not to obstruct any members of the LegCo while in the execution of his or her duty.
Ends/Friday, June 12, 2015
Issued at HKT 20:57
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