'Police Trying To Scare Off July 1 Marchers'

Organisers of the annual July 1 pro-democracy march have accused the police of trying to scare people away from taking part in the event, as a row continues over this year's starting point.

With a pro-Beijing group having booked out the football pitches at Victoria Park that day, the police have issued a letter of no objection for the march to begin on the nearby lawn instead.

But the march organiser, the Civil Human Rights Front, has not requested the use of the lawn and says if it can't use the pitches as it has done traditionally, it wants demonstrators to gather outside the park instead.

On Saturday, Police Commissioner Stephen Lo warned that gathering at an unapproved location could constitute an illegal assembly.

Avery Ng from the League of Social Democrats, which is a member of the front, said the demonstrators cannot simply bow down to the police's demands.

"The only one that is making a threat is the police. They are threatening the Hong Kong people that if we do not obey their plan, then we'll become unlawful. That's ridiculous," Ng said.

"Basically, the police commissioner is twisting the law and if we budge and if we kneel to his demand, then we will see a further deterioration of our freedom of expression and protest in Hong Kong."

The front said it wants to start the march on East Point Road in Causeway Bay, because the paths out of the park from the lawn are too narrow to accommodate so many people.

It said it will take the police's decision to an appeal board and if that fails, it could even file a court challenge.

The front's convenor, Sammy Ip, said they do not want to engage in any civil disobedience on July 1, but they may have to by ignoring the police demands.

He said no final decision had yet been taken, but in any case marchers will follow the approved route to Civic Square in Tamar and everything possible will be done to make sure roads are not blocked and that no violence breaks out.