The Police have objected to some applications for this weekend’s public gatherings in different districts.

Speaking at a press conference today, New Territories North Superintendent Vasco Williams said the Police are committed to respecting the freedom of speech and assembly.

“We issued letters of objection to applications for holding public gatherings, mainly due to concerns about public safety, public order and protection of rights and freedoms of others.”

Mr Williams said the Police do not plan to issue an outright ban on public order events.

“We will vet every single application carefully on a case-by-case basis. We will conduct advanced risk assessment with reference to the proposed route, location, size of crowd and whether the organisers have the ability to exercise proper control.”

He warned that participants of public gatherings the Commissioner of Police has objected to may be liable for the offence of participating in an unauthorised assembly.

The Police will closely monitor the situation this weekend and make respective deployment as necessary, he added.