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Hong Kong police deny groups’ application for July 1 rally against ‘political suppression’

  • The force cited the ongoing coronavirus pandemic in declining to grant permission for the march
  • The event would have coincided with the anniversaries of both the city’s handover from Britain to China, and the founding of the Communist Party

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People participate in a July 1 rally in 2018. Police on Monday denied an application for this year’s rally, citing the pandemic. Photo: Sam Tsang
Hong Kong police have cited the coronavirus as grounds for barring three groups from organising a march on July 1 to call for resistance against “political suppression, and the release of all political prisoners”.
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The three activist groups – the League of Social Democrats, Tin Shui Wai Connection and Save Lantau Alliance – applied to the force on Friday for approval to hold the march, which would have coincided with the 24th anniversary of the city’s handover from Britain to China in 1997.
July 1 will also mark 100 years since the founding of the Communist Party, and come one day after the first anniversary of the Beijing-imposed national security law taking effect in Hong Kong.
The groups’ application was an attempt to resurrect the annual march after its usual organiser, the Civil Human Rights Front, revealed it would not be hosting the July 1 event for the first time since 2003 following the jailing of its convenor and a police investigation into the legality of its very existence.

Police issued objection letters to the three groups on Monday at noon banning the rally, citing concerns over the spread of Covid-19 as social-distancing rules were still in force.
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