Hong Kong hits out at BBC after report on jailing of political activists for 2019 rioting, says it smears national security law
- British broadcaster’s Saturday report states that tough security law ‘made it easier to prosecute protesters and reduced the city’s autonomy’
- Report covered sentencing of Hong Kong actor Gregory Wong, who was among three political activists and 10 others charged with rioting and breaching Legco complex
Hong Kong authorities have hit out at the BBC after it ran a report on the sentencing of political activists for rioting in 2019, accusing the broadcaster of smearing the city’s national security law with false allegations.
A government spokesman said the administration expressed disapproval and condemned the report, without identifying it. However, the BBC published a report headlined “Hong Kong: Actor Gregory Wong among 12 jailed over 2019 protest”.
“The report concerned completely disregarded the relevant provision and slandered the national security law with false accusations that it reduced Hong Kong’s autonomy. It is necessary for the … government to set the record straight,” he said.
Hong Kong actor Gregory Wong jailed for 6 years, 2 months over Legco storming
“The report attempted to shift the focus with false accusations to mislead people into believing that the legislative intent of the national security law is to ‘make it easier to prosecute protesters’, thereby creating a negative impression of the law.”
The national security law was imposed in 2020, outlawing acts of secession, subversion, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces, with offenders facing up to life imprisonment.
Saturday’s news report from the British Broadcasting Corporation covered the sentencing of Hong Kong actor Gregory Wong Chung-yiu, who was jailed for six years and two months for storming the Legco complex at the height of social unrest in 2019.
It also stated that the “protests led to the introduction of a tough security law that made it easier to prosecute protesters and reduced the city’s autonomy”.
The 45-year-old was among three political activists and 10 others who appeared at West Kowloon Court on charges of rioting and breaching the complex. Prison sentences handed down on Saturday ranged from more than four years to six years and eight months.
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The government spokesman said authorities would continue to promptly refute any false accusations against the laws on safeguarding national security to prevent the public from being misled.
