Appeal Board Upholds National Day March Ban

An appeal board has upheld a police decision to ban what would have been Hong Kong's largest authorised protest in months, agreeing that allowing a march on National Day would have put public health at risk.

The Civil Human Rights Front had planned to use the march on Thursday to demand the return of 12 Hong Kong activists who are being held in Shenzhen on charges of illegally entering mainland waters.

Members of the front had told the hearing that people should be allowed to exercise their basic right to protest, especially when more high-risk locations such as pubs are being allowed to reopen and public transport is crowded.

They said the march could adopt social distancing measures, such as asking marchers to wear masks and walk in groups of no more than four, the maximum number of people allowed to gather under regulations.

The group said the social gathering ban might be unconstitutional if it meant that all protests were banned by default, noting that there hasn't been a legal protest in Hong Kong for nine months.

"If the pandemic persists, when can a legal protest be held in Hong Kong, for normal citizens to voice out? " they asked.

The group also noted that there had been fewer violent protests during the pandemic, and it's pure speculation on the police's part that violence would happen if the match was approved this time.

However the police said the health authorities did not recommend holding the march, as the risk of Covid-19 still existed.

They noted that many celebrations for this week's National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival had been cancelled.

The force said illegal acts had occurred during recent protests, and online promotion materials for the National Day march already show that violent protesters were planning to make a return.

Police said on Saturday that they'd received details from Guangdong authorities of the arrest of the 12 activists on August 23.

The 12 activists were all previously charged with or suspected of offences relating to anti-government protests. One had been arrested under the SAR's new National Security Law. They're alleged to have been trying to reach Taiwan by speedboat when they were picked up.