Tai Po March Called Off After Appeal Dismissed

The organiser of an anti-extradition protest march planned for Tai Po on Saturday says his is calling the event off after an appeal board declined to overturn a police ban on the rally.

The New Territories town had been due to host its first anti-extradition protest, but police issued a letter of objection earlier this week. Organiser Roy Chan saw his appeal rejected by the Appeal Board on Public Meetings and Processions on Friday.

Chan said he was angry and disappointed, as he had attempted to meet a police request to change the route of the march, only to see his suggestions rejected.

The board's chairman said, after a two-hour hearing, that the march was likely to cause a serious risk to public safety. Police told the appeal that, based on their experience of previous marches, there was a high possibility that some participants would break the law.

The police have also denied to permission for a protest event planned in Wong Tai Sin on Saturday as well as Sham Shui Po and North Point on Sunday. A gathering at Victoria Park on Sunday has been approved, but not a march from there to North Point as protesters wanted.