Police respond to double standards on two gatherings

Public Security Police Force (PSP) spokesperson Ma Chio Hong was unable to provide a clear clarification on the double standards applied to two gatherings with opposing purposes.
During Friday’s regular police press conference on Covid-19, several questions were asked regarding the department’s understanding of the city’s demonstration and assembly laws. This followed PSP’s “arrest” of two pedestrians at Senado Square on Thursday night and the department’s negligence to make arrests regarding a gathering on Friday.
On Thursday, PSP “arrested” two young female citizens who showed up at Senado Square after the annual June 4 vigil ran online. The two women happened to be the daughters of lawmaker Au Kam San, the organizer of the vigil.
Despite there being no vigil or other civil assembly taking place at the square, the police department had deployed a team of about 50 officers in uniform, with more undercover, to survey the space.
When the online vigil finished, Au’s daughters left the indoor gathering. They visited Senado Square, carrying electrical candles and pamphlets which the duo had helped remove from the site where the online vigil was held.
PSP spotted the two women at 10:30 p.m. and suspected them of taking part in an assembly and of violating Macau’s demonstration law.
Only at around 2 a.m. on June 5 did PSP release the pair. The police authority also seized the candles and pamphlets.
“We just put the booklets and two electric candles down and that was it. They took them away from us as evidence to go to court with, and to see if they would charge us with illegal assembly, which is ridiculous because we’re just two people,” one of his daughters, Cherry Au, told TDM.
Meanwhile, the PSP spokesperson insisted that the actions taken were in accordance with the law and that the department had taken all actions necessary to ensure Macau’s safety against Covid-19.
Ma continued to claim that PSP felt that the situation required the police department to station dozens of police officers at Senado Square, despite the fact that there were no signs of an assembly.
Ma said that PSP was “reporting” the case to the prosecution authority. PSP has already sent Au’s daughters’ cases to the Office of the Prosecutor General (MP), albeit without formal charges.
On the one hand, PSP had deemed the presence of two passersby at Senado Square an assembly. On the other hand, the department had no information about a gathering of dozens of people on Friday morning in support of the national security law of Hong Kong.
That morning, the Macao Youth Federation held a gathering to support the national security law of Hong Kong. A group of 40 participants marched from the Macau Science Center, past the Macau Tower, Barra area and Iao Han, spreading their message.
When asked about whether this was defined as an assembly, Ma said that PSP was “unaware of the event” and was “uncertain regarding the nature of the activity.”
Ma said “it [was] difficult to comment on each individual case” and PSP handled all cases in accordance with the law.
However, the PSP spokesperson stated that according to Macau’s demonstration law, parties must inform the PSP director in case there is any possibility of using public roads or public spaces.
During the course of the 40-minute press conference, Ma was unable to justify PSP’s double standards in the two cases.
Citing the Court of Final Appeal, Ma said that a protest should comprise of one person or more, an assembly requires two or more people.
In the end, Ma remarked that members of the public should not worry about unlawful arrests because Macau is a city of freedom of speech and safety, and because Macau’s police authority follows the law. MDT