Secretary for Security Wong Sio Chak said on Thursday that the police have transferred the case involving two women – both widely known to be the daughters of a local lawmaker – for their alleged participation in an illegal June 4 gathering to the Public Prosecution Office (MP) in line with the assembly and demonstration law.
Wong made the remarks while speaking to reporters after attending a closed-door meeting of the legislature’s 1st Standing Committee, which is reviewing, article-by-article, the government’s civil protection bill.
According to local media reports, the two women – the daughters of non-establishment lawmaker Au Kam San – were taken in for questioning by the police on June 4 because they allegedly violated police orders by participating in an illegal assembly near Largo do Senado.
The Court of Final Appeal (TUI) had upheld a decision by the police to disallow this year’s June 4 vigil in the square due to the government’s ongoing COVID-19 prevention measures.
Speaking to reporters on Thursday, Wong insisted that the police force’s reason to disallow this year’s June 4 assembly due to the COVID-19 epidemic was in line with the Court of Final Appeal’s (TUI) decision to reject an appeal by the vigil’s organisers against the decision by the police to disallow the event.
When asked by a reporter whether he could guarantee that the police would allow the June 4 vigil next year if the COVID-19 epidemic is over at that time, Wong said the police did not ban the June 4 vigil “for many years”, underlining that the police decided to disallow the open-air event this year merely because of the COVID-19 epidemic.
Wong said that the police could not predict the situation next year, adding that, anyhow, the police would always take various factors into account, such as public health and public order, when deciding whether to allow such an assembly to take place, in addition to the possible continuation of the COVID-19 epidemic. “I cannot guarantee that [the police] will approve it next year, and there might be other factors [to disallow the assembly next year]. [The police] did not disallow the assembly for many years,” Wong said.
The vigil had been held by non-establishment lawmakers Au and Ng Kuok Cheong annually between 1990 and last year, mostly in the city’s main square, Largo do Senado, or adjacent Largo de S. Domingos.
Meanwhile, Wong also said that Chief Executive Ho Iat Seng has had many intensive discussions with the Guangdong and Zhuhai governments “striving” for the gradual relaxation of quarantine requirements for Macao residents for travelling to the province.
(The Macau Post Daily/Macau News)
PHOTO © Government Information Bureau (GCS)
