Another major result of the High Court's decision
is that the police are relegated almost unlimited authority to
control the public peace and to determine what kind of assembly should be dispersed. Two highly probable consequences of this are
the arbitrary exercise of power by the police and the selective
enforcement of the law shich are characteristics of a police state.
We maintain that the Yaumatei case is an example
of the exercise of such overbroad powers. This is not an isolated
event. For example, in 1978, the government arrested CTV employees
who were petitioning the Governor for the rectification of
labour grievances (see section 4). In 1979, members of the
Marxist Revolutionary League were arrested before they assembled
for a political rally in Victoria Park (see section 2). Also in
1979, residents of On Loh Chuen were arrested and charged with illegal assembly and other offenses as they attempted to protect their property (see section 3).
Yet in 1977, when the police themselves stormed the
ICAC offices, the Public Order Ordinance was not invoked. (Also see Appendix 6) From these incidents, it can be surmised that the police have chosen to pinpoint labour, political and housing issues as targets for suppression since these are concerns most volatile
in any society. All of this has been done under the guise of a
legal system and the call for "public order". Such tactics and rationalizations are used to maintain repressive regimes in all parts of the world and now appear to be used in Hong Kong.
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