Political interference alleged in protest over shutdown of DBC
Protesters rally at government headquarters over dispute that crippled first digital station
Activists and hosts of the city's first digital radio broadcaster began a three day sit-in yesterday in front of the government headquarters.
Digital Broadcasting Corporation was forced to go off air after a shareholders' row, with host Albert Cheng Kin-hon calling the dispute "politically motivated".
Speakers at the protest said the station's imminent closure was a result of political suppression. "This is not an internal row," said co-host Peter Lam Yuk-wah. The station was not in financial difficulty before the shareholders stopped injecting capital, he said.
Cheng vowed on stage last night that he would continue to solicit public donations to fight the legal disputes and find ways for the station to keep operating.
Another host, Lai Chak-fun, said the incident reflected the state of press freedom in Hong Kong, where dissident views were suppressed by commercial means because most of the mainstream press was controlled by tycoons with ties to Beijing.
Lai told several hundred supporters that there was concrete proof of political interference in the company row that crippled the broadcaster. Lam said later that 8,000 people had joined the sit-in. Police said by 9pm 3,200 had taken part.