Hundreds gather near Hong Kong park despite vigil ban
HONG KONG (AP) — Hundreds of people gathered near a Hong Kong park Friday despite a ban on an annual candlelight vigil to remember China’s deadly crackdown in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square, and the arrest earlier in the day of an organizer of previous vigils.
Hong Kong police banned the vigil for a second straight year, citing coronavirus social distancing restrictions, although there have been no local cases in the semi-autonomous Chinese city for about six weeks.
Police closed off parts of Victoria Park — the venue of past vigils — in the city’s Causeway Bay shopping district and warned people not to participate in unauthorized assemblies, which is illegal with punishment of of up to five years imprisonment.
Despite the ban and a heavy police presence, hundreds of people still showed up Friday night to walk along the park’s perimeter.
https://apnews.com/article/asia-pacific-hong-kong-arrests-media-e0ab09dbd166881844d4424f5364fc66
