The Sha Tin Secondary School Fugitive Offenders Ordinance Concern Group is calling for an anti-extradition rally to be held at Legco on Saturday
Numerous anti-extradition law protests have been organised by online concern groups in Hong Kong recently, and another group called the Sha Tin Secondary School Fugitive Offenders Ordinance Concern Group (STSSFOOCG) was recently founded. This new group has called for another rally to take place on Saturday afternoon, but fellow concern groups in the Sha Tin district say they have not heard of the STSSFOOCG and that they do not know anything about the proposed event.
The announcement of the event appeared on Facebook on Monday, posted on a page called the Sha Tin Secondary School Fugitive Offenders Ordinance Concern Group, who claims to have been founded by several student representatives studying in the Sha Tin district. According to a poster on their page, they hope to gather secondary school students across Hong Kong at the protest zone outside the Legislative Council Complex on Saturday to raise international awareness about the anti-extradition bill movement, and urge the Hong Kong government to respond to the demands of the community.
The assembly will feature speeches, screenings, memorial service and banner-making. The group originally asked participants to show up in their school uniforms, or wear white, but they changed the dress code on Tuesday evening, saying participants should wear black and face masks instead.
The group’s Facebook page was created last Sunday, and as of Thursday evening, they only have 10 followers. When Young Post reached out to other student concern groups in the Sha Tin district, many of them said they do not know anything about the organiser and the proposed event.
“This looks very odd because no one would set up an anti-extradition group at such a late moment,” said a representative of the Sha Tin Tsung Tsin Secondary School concern group, which has more than 1,350 followers on its Facebook page.
“This group has not contacted us, so we have no idea about this event and we have not asked any of our students to join it,” said a spokesperson of a Shatin Government Secondary School alumni group on Thursday.
The representative also denied allegations on social media and discussion forums that the organiser of the assembly was affiliated with them, saying such rumours were “totally ridiculous”.
The proposed assembly was reported by pro-Beijing newspaper Wen Wei Po on Wednesday in the news section, and it was also mentioned in an opinion piece. The Chinese government-owned paper said the assembly was another attempt of the opposition to manipulate students as “human shields”, while the columnist quoted a parent who slammed the organiser of the assembly as having “no conscience” and being “detestable”.
It is unclear whether the assembly will still be held on Saturday, as the organiser has not updated the page since Tuesday evening. Young Post has reached out to them for comment.