Police prosecutes FMG members for disobedience

Gaming workers protest in front of Starworld casino on Monday, Aug. 25

The Public Security Police (PSP) has named several members of the casino employees’ group Forefront of Macau Gaming (FMG), including president Ieong Man Teng, as suspects after they allegedly charged the police line in a protest on August 25.
During a press conference yesterday, the vice-president of FMG, Lei Kuok Keong, said that all of the protesters in the rally on August 25 had gone back to the original route after being persuaded by the police. However, five of them have been accused by the PSP two weeks after the protest of charging at the police line and hence committing aggravated disobedience.
He said that although there were obstacles during the protest, participants were acting in a restrained manner. Therefore, he hopes that the police can dismiss the charges.
Moreover, Lei Kuok Keong questioned the rationale behind the prosecution and claimed that PSP’s action is targeting union activities.
He also criticized the police for contacting their families instead of looking for them directly. The vice-president said that this action is an act of harassment to their families.
The FMG protest on August 25 was targeting all six casino operators in Macau. When protestors were walking on Rua Cidade de Sintra outside StarWorld Hotel and Wynn Macau, some of them had broken through the police line in an attempt to walk to MGM Macau. However, they later retreated back to the route designated by the police after their leaders negotiated with the authorities.
When asked about the prosecution yesterday, a PSP spokesperson said that they were still arranging the information related to the case and will answer questions from the media when they have “sufficient information”.