The Public Security Police (PSP) said yesterday that seven people were taken for questioning to a police station on Monday night from the city’s main square since their personal information needed to be further verified or because they could not provide identity documents at the scene, PSP spokesman Lei Tak Fai said during a regular press conference yesterday at the Judiciary Police (PJ) headquarters, adding that none of them were arrested.
Lei also said that the police had checked the seven people’s personal information in line with their internal guidelines and experience.
Lei pointed out that a plan to hold an assembly in Largo do Senado on Monday night was turned down by the police last week, and therefore individuals present in the square on Monday night carrying promotional materials related to the banned assembly could be regarded as participants in the banned assembly, which would have been illegal.
Consequently, Lei said, the police had “legitimate reasons and the power” to take the seven people in for further questioning. Lei added that “some” of the seven people had “protest-supporting materials” on them when they were approached by the police such as stickers alleging violence by the Hong Kong police during the recent anti-government protests in the neighbouring special administrative region.
The original aim of the assembly was to “stand in silence” against alleged violence by the police in Hong Kong. The police have not announced who notified them about the plan to hold the assembly in the city’s main square.
According to the law regulating assemblies and demonstrations in Macau, groups or individuals who plan to hold an assembly or a demonstration are required to notify the Public Security Police by letter between three and 15 working days in advance.
According to the same law, the police can ban “an assembly or demonstration that intends to violate the law” from taking place. This is what, according to the police, happened last week.
Macau’s non-establishment lawmakers Ng Kuok Cheong, Au Kam San and Sulu Sou Ka Hou insisted late last week that they had nothing to do with the planned assembly, which originally was slated to start at 8 p.m. on Monday.
Several dozen PSP officers are estimated to have been on patrol in and around the square on Monday night. Their presence came as an apparent surprise to tourists, mostly mainlanders, who happened to be in the square at that time.
Public Security Police (PSP) spokesman Lei Tak Fai (right) answers reporters’ questions during yesterday’s press conference at the PJ headquarters in Zape while Judiciary Police (PJ) spokeswoman Lei Hon Nei looks on. Photo: Kristy Chan
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