Mong Kok March Gets Go-ahead On Appeal

An anti-extradition rally starting in Mong Kok on Saturday will go ahead, albeit with a different route, after an appeal board unexpectedly overturned a police ban on the event.

Police had initially refused the letter of no objection which protest organisers must obtain before any march or large-scale gathering, and insisted that organisers could only stage a rally at the original starting point of the march, a football pitch in Anchor Street.

The police cited public safety concerns and the effect on traffic in Hong Kong's most densely crowded district.

The organiser of the march, Steve Ng, said the Appeal Board on Public Meetings and Processions agreed with the police that the original route wasn't suitable, but decided it could proceed on an altered route that took people through the neighbouring, less densely populated area of Tai Kok Tsui.

Ng said he accepted the proposal – and called it a "minor victory" against police. The march begins at 2pm on Saturday from Anchor Street Playground and ends at Cherry Street in Tai Kok Tsui.