last night condemned the Government's decision to refuse to allow dissident Wang Dan to visit the SAR for next Friday's candlelight vigil.

The event, in Victoria Park, marks the 10th anniversary of the June 4 Tiananmen Square massacre.

Albert Ho Chun-yan, of the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of the Patriotic Democratic Movement in China, said he had received a letter from the Immigration Department rejecting Mr Wang's visa application.

"This is a political decision . . . the Government simply refused Mr Wang's visa application out of fear that it would affect its relations with the mainland," he said.

The administration had given no reason for the rejection, he said.

Mr Wang is scheduled to go to Macau instead for June 4 commemorative events. Mr Ho plans to join him on June 5.

Mr Ho had received a report from the Security Bureau regarding an earlier rejection of visa applications for Mr Wang and 10 other dissidents who had planned to attend a seminar in Hong Kong this month.

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