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Hong Kong: the president of the journalists' union charged before his planned departure for the foreigner

2022-09-19T10:46:46.814Z


The president of the Hong Kong journalists' union was charged Monday, September 19 with obstructing the police, ten days before his departure...


The president of the Hong Kong Journalists Syndicate was charged on Monday (September 19) with obstructing law enforcement, ten days before his scheduled departure for training abroad.

Ronson Chan, president of the Hong Kong Journalists Association (HKJA), is due in court on Thursday.

He faces up to two years in prison.

The journalist was arrested at the beginning of September when two police officers asked to verify his identity in the middle of reporting on a meeting of occupants of social housing.

Threat

Police say Ronson Chan refused to show officers his ID and behaved in an "

uncooperative

" manner despite multiple warnings.

"

I told them I didn't understand the charge...I didn't obstruct any police officer

," Ronson Chan said outside the police station.

The reporter disputed the law enforcement account, saying he asked officers to explain why they searched and handcuffed him before he could show his ID .

He also accused the police officers of threatening him on the way to the police station, recounting comments such as " let's

see when you're going to die

".

Ronson Chan was expected to leave Hong Kong at the end of September after winning a scholarship to attend a six-month Reuters Institute program at Oxford University.

Freedom of the press stifled

Hong Kong authorities are using the national security law and the offense of sedition, dating from when the city was under British rule, to crack down on protest in Hong Kong, three years after massive pro-democracy protests.

The Hong Kong police have extensive stop and search powers.

Residents have limited legal avenues to object to an identity check.

Read alsoThierry Wolton: “Why Beijing crushed freedom in Hong Kong”

Local media deemed critical of the government have been the subject of a wave of police investigations and Hong Kong in 2021 fell 68 places in the Reporters Without Borders (RSF) press freedom ranking. , released in May, to reach No. 148 worldwide.

The Apple Daily newspaper and online news platform StandNews - which Ronson Chan worked for - both closed last year after several of their executives were accused of violating national security law.

Source: lefigaro

All news articles on 2022-09-19

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