Early stoppage of rally justified

January 2, 2020

Police Public Relations Branch Chief Superintendent Kwok Ka-chuen:
For the public procession yesterday, Police all along maintained very close communication with the organiser and came to the conclusion that it no longer had the ability to ensure the order of the event. 

It was evident that the organiser soon lost control of how the event would develop as it was hijacked by rioters to wreak havoc along the route. 

So we asked the organiser to cut short the procession at 5.30pm and gave them time to disperse the crowds peacefully. 

This decision was certainly in the interest of public safety. The violence that broke out at various locations would have posed a grave threat to the safety of all participants. 

Indeed, before our officers used force including tear gas to disperse the remaining participants, they had given multiple warnings and sufficient time for them to leave on their own. But our repeated warnings fell on deaf ears and that is why our intervention was necessary. 

We must reiterate that no one has the privilege to stay in a riot when police officers have given repeated warnings for people to leave. 

You can claim to be a first aider, a human rights observer, you name it. But this does not give you any exemption from the legal liability of taking part in a riot. 

In the end, we intercepted 464 people. But after initial investigation, we released around one third of them.

Police today cited public safety as the reason behind its decision to cut short a public procession on New Year’s Day.

During a press conference in the afternoon, Police Public Relations Branch Chief Superintendent Kwok Ka-chuen said Police maintained close communication with the procession organiser.

He said: “It was evident that the organiser soon lost control of how the event would develop as it was hijacked by rioters to wreak havoc along the route.

“So we asked the organiser to cut short the procession at 5.30pm and gave them time to disperse the crowds peacefully.

“This decision was certainly in the interest of public safety. The violence that broke out at various locations would have posed a grave threat to the safety of all participants.”

He pointed out that Police gave multiple warnings and sufficient time for people to leave before using force, including tear gas to disperse remaining participants.

“Our repeated warnings fell on deaf ears and that is why our intervention was necessary.

“We must reiterate that no one has the privilege to stay in a riot when police officers have given repeated warnings for people to leave.

“You can claim to be a first aider, a human rights observer, you name it. But this does not give you any exemption from the legal liability of taking part in a riot.”

Police intercepted 464 people and released about one-third of them after initial investigations, he added.