Hong Kong busker Oliver Ma claims to have been mistreated by the local police forces, who deported and banned him from reentering Macau without justifiable reason.
On his Facebook page, Ma tells the story of what was meant to be a Sunday with his family but ended up with a 13-hour interrogation by the Macau police.
The case occurred on September 3, when the busker set up his musical performance equipment at the square in front of St Dominic’s Church in the Senado Square area.
As explained in his post, as he was about to start his second song, several police officers from the Public Security Police Force (PSP) – which had a police delegation right in front of the location where Ma was singing – arrived at the scene and asked him to stop singing.
According to Ma, he immediately obeyed the order and packed up his equipment.
“The police then got my Hong Kong ID and asked me and my family to come with them ‘to talk.’ In my mind, they were only taking us nearby to inform us about some laws we were not familiar with. The next thing we knew, we arrived at a nearby police station where I was asked to sign a form, before being taken into their office along with all my musical equipment,” Ma says. He added that eventually, his family members were released by the PSP while he remained in questioning.
Ma explained that after some time, an officer presented him with a fine of MOP600 for engaging in busking activities without a license, he said, noting that he expected the situation to end there.
However, he was then transported to “another police station,” which the Times has confirmed to be the Judiciary Police (PJ).
At the PJ, he was asked to surrender his mobile phone password.
The process stretched out over many hours. Ma asked the investigators for a meal, but was refused by the officers who claimed that “they do not provide meals on Sundays.”
While responding to the PJ questions, he alleged that he requested to contact his lawyer, a question that he said angered the investigator.
At some point during the questioning, the PJ investigator started asking about the time he had sung the “Glory to Hong Kong” song in Hong Kong, which resulted in his arrest, and asked whether he was planning to sing it in Macau as well.
The questioning concluded around 3 a.m. on September 4, at which time he was informed he had been banned from reentering Macau for a year. Consequently, he was escorted back to Hong Kong through the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge.
“Out of all my past experiences of being arbitrarily arrested and detained for busking, this one has to be the most dehumanizing,” Ma said. He added, “For merely singing one-two songs in the streets of Macau, I was arrested without warning and detained by the Public Security Police Force for over 13 hours before being permanently kicked out. I felt as if I was treated like less than a tourist, let alone a human, and more like a terrorist.”
The 24-year-old busker was detained by the police authorities of the neighboring region back in May 2021 when he was playing guitar and singing at the junction of Queen’s Road Central and Theatre Lane at around 10 p.m.
Ma was then accused of organizing a prohibited group gathering, an offense under the Covid-19 restriction measures at the time.
Last May, he was acquitted of the charges after the judge from the Eastern Magistrates’ Court cast doubt over the reliability of a police officer’s testimony.
The busker is widely known for being a pro-democracy advocate and for singing an English language rendition of the so-called “forbidden song,” that was the anthem of the Hong Kong protests, during his busking performances.
Police forces claim Ma posed risks to national security
In response to Ma’s post about his experience in Macau, both the PSP and the PJ have issued statements on the case.
Both police forces claimed that Ma posed a risk and was “suspected of endangering national security.” The PSP added that the force had been already informed in advance of Ma’s trip to Macau and the possibility of him engaging in similar behavior to what had been reported in Hong Kong.
According to PSP, Ma also entered Macau on a tourism permit that did not include busking performances.
“The Macau Special Administrative Region welcomes everyone to travel, visit relatives, conduct commercial activities and cultural exchanges. However, the Public Security Police Force, as the department in charge of immigration affairs in the Macau Special Administrative Region, is required by law to inspect and monitor the situation of relevant individuals during their stay in Macau. Everyone should respect and abide by the laws of the region,” the PSP concluded.
As for the PJ, the force claimed that Ma’s post “deviated from the facts” and “seriously affected the good reputation and image of the Judiciary Police.”
According to the PJ, which also cited potential risks of endangering national security, the investigation was “completely legal, reasonable and in compliance with applicable procedures. [Ma’s] legitimate rights and interests were fully protected during the process.”
The PJ accused Ma of “fabricating facts and making things up out of thin air,” while making use of social media to slander the local police forces.
Based on these facts, the PJ immediately initiated an investigation into potential criminal liability. RM
