Leader of Hong Kong journalists’ group charged with obstruction days before flight to UK to take up prestigious Oxford University fellowship
- Ronson Chan vows to apply for bail on Thursday so he can travel to Oxford University to start fellowship
- Chan says he would feel ‘ridiculous’ if court case blocked chance to take up place on Oxford programme
The head of Hong Kong’s biggest journalists’ organisation was on Monday charged with obstruction of a police officer, days before he was expected to take up a prestigious fellowship in Britain.
Ronson Chan Ron-sing, chairman of the Hong Kong Journalists Association, who was expected to leave next week for a fellowship programme at the University of Oxford, said he would apply for bail at a court appearance on Thursday.
“I would feel ridiculous If I can’t go to the UK due to this charge,” Chan said on Monday as he entered Mong Kok Police Station to be charged with the offence.
Chan, who earlier insisted he would return to Hong Kong after the trip, said he had planned to fly out Thursday next week for the six-month programme organised by the University of Oxford’s Reuters Institute.
He added he had expressed his disagreement with the charge when he met police officers on Monday.
Chan, 41, was charged two days before he was scheduled to report to the police station as part of his bail conditions.
He was arrested after he went to cover a meeting in Mong Kok earlier this month.
Police stopped and searched Chan, a deputy assignment editor at online news portal Channel C, and his 42-year-old photographer on September 7.