Several dozen taxi drivers protested outside the Public Security Police (PSP) Traffic Police Department in Avenida de Sidonio Pais and the Central People’s Government’s Liaison Office in Zape late last night, accusing the police of abuse of power and “selective” enforcement.
The cabbies blocked part of the road in their protest, and during a brief kerfuffle between police officers and taxi drivers, a man was seen lying on the ground. According to media reports, over a dozen taxis were parked outside the station.
The protest was sparked by the arrest of a fellow taxi driver, who was picking up passengers near the Venetian in Cotai yesterday afternoon on a yellow line – which is illegal. After he had been released from a police station in Taipa, the driver went to the PSP Traffic Department in Avenida de Sidonio Pais at 1 a.m., and spoke to reporters there. He complained about the officers’ alleged abuse of power, claiming that at the time of his arrest, another car was also parked on the yellow line, but, according to him, the police did nothing. He insisted that he was held in custody for six hours “for no reason”.
