Today (21 June), at 4:00pm, the University of Macau (UM) held the annual congregation on the new campus. More than 2,500 people, including graduates, parents, teachers and guests, attended the ceremony. As soon as the solemn ceremony began, a student suddenly held up a poster that read, “支持學者發聲 Please Stop Persecution of Scholars” written in both Chinese and English, which disrupted the proceedings of the ceremony. Another member in the audience, who claimed to be a journalist of the Macau Concealers, stood in the aisle, which interfered with the comings and goings of others attending the ceremony. After repeated attempts to reason with him, he still refused to cooperate, and continued to engage in behaviours that disrupted the order at the event venue. To make sure the graduates and their parents can enjoy their right to participate in the graduation ceremony, UM’s security staff had to take measures to make the two leave the event venue. It is regrettable that there was some bodily contact between the security staff and the journalist in the process.

UM says that for the students and their parents, the congregation is a very important ceremony, and therefore UM wanted to make sure that the ceremony proceeded in a joyous and solemn manner. In response to this incident, UM had to take appropriate measures to ensure that the ceremony could proceed smoothly. UM always respects academic freedom and freedom of speech, and also upholds academic excellence. This is UM’s educational philosophy.