IAM reverses earlier Tiananmen exhibition authorization

The Municipal Affairs Bureau (IAM) has reversed its decision to allow the display in public spaces of an exhibition organized by lawmaker Ng Kuok Cheong’s group Union for Democracy Development relating to the events that occurred in Tiananmen Square on June 4, 1989.
The exhibition is normally held alongside an annual vigil in Senado Square in the evening of June 4. The event calls on the public to remember Beijing’s violent crackdown on pro-democracy activists in 1989.
The IAM’s new decision contradicts a previous one from last month when the bureau authorized the use of public spaces to host the event which has been held in Macau for many years.
According to organizers, the IAM did not provide any justification for its change of position.
Questioned by TDM Radio, António Katchi, a legal expert and law professor responded that the change of position by the IAM constitutes an illegal decision.
“If the authorization had already been given [by the IAM to host the exhibition] it could not be revoked afterward unless the IAM considered, with plausible reasons, that the decision was invalid for violating the law and that it should be revoked to restore legality,” Katchi said.
“Since it is obvious that the interested parties did not consent the revoking of the authorization, the act can only be considered invalid and illegal.”
For Katchi, the back-pedal on the decision by the IAM has political motivations and it carries a bad omen as it might indicate that the annual vigil hosted on the same day to recall the events could also be canceled this year for the first time.
On the topic, Ng stated that he did not yet have confirmation of whether the vigil, hosted every year can be held this year since the introduction of new rules approved by the Legislative Assembly. These changes moved such powers from the authority of IAM to that of the Public Security Police Force (PSP) and state that all demonstrations and public assembly events should be communicated to the PSP between a minimum of three days and a maximum of 15 days before the wanted date.
Katchi also added that he believes that the vigil may be at risk, given that last year authorities disallowed a demonstration that aimed to protest against the alleged use of violence by police forces in the neighboring region of Hong Kong. The justifications given by the PSP were later validated by the Court of Final Appeal.