Court denies request for trial delay by Hong Kong reporter accused of misusing government database
- Ta Kung Pao reporter Wong Wai-keung sought to delay proceedings for nine months until an appeal in a similar case is decided
- But Principal Magistrate Ivy Chui says long adjournment unnecessary and asks prosecutors why they treated the two defendants differently
A reporter with a pro-Beijing newspaper in Hong Kong has lost his bid to delay his trial over providing a false statement when accessing a government database on car ownership until an appeal in a similar case is decided.
Principal Magistrate Ivy Chui Yee-mei also declined on Monday to exempt Ta Kung Pao employee Wong Wai-keung from appearing at future court hearings, saying the defendant was expected to enter his plea in person despite only being served with a summons.
The 47-year-old reporter was making his first appearance at West Kowloon Court after missing a previous hearing at Eastern Court last month. The reason for his absence was not given.
He was issued a summons in February for allegedly providing a false statement to the Transport Department by claiming his request for the personal information of a private car owner was transport-related on August 15 last year.
The owner’s name, written in both Chinese and English, and the car plate number were contained in Ta Kung Pao’s top story published the next day that accused fugitive politician Ted Hui Chi-fung and his supporters of harassing the newspaper’s journalists.
The department allows access to a car owner’s name, addresses and identity card number for the purpose of legal proceedings, sale and purchase of vehicles and other traffic-related matters. The options do not include news reporting.