Head of journalist group allowed to leave Hong Kong while awaiting trial for obstructing police officer, magistrate rules
- Ronson Chan, chairman of the Hong Kong Journalists Association, given permission to take up prestigious fellowship in Britain
- Magistrate adjourned trial to May and released Chan on HK$20,000 bail, on condition that he report to police about any change of address
The head of Hong Kong’s biggest journalist union may leave Hong Kong while awaiting trial on charges of obstructing a police officer, a magistrate has ruled, allowing him to take up a prestigious fellowship in Britain.
Ronson Chan Ron-sing, chairman of the Hong Kong Journalists Association, appeared in West Kowloon Court on Thursday for allegedly obstructing a policewoman in Mong Kok while he was on his way to a reporting assignment earlier this month.
Sporting a black T-shirt emblazoned with the words “press freedom”, the 41-year-old accused denied obstructing a police officer and an alternative charge of obstructing a public officer before Principal Magistrate Peter Law Tak-chuen.
Law adjourned the trial until mid-May and released Chan on HK$20,000 (US$2,550) bail, on condition that he report to police about any change of addresses in Hong Kong, as well as his residential address and contact number while he is in Britain.
Chan, a deputy assignment editor at online news portal Channel C, initially planned to depart Hong Kong for a six-month programme organised by the University of Oxford’s Reuters Institute.
He was arrested on September 7 when he and a photographer made their way to report on a meeting of Long Ping Estate property owners at MacPherson Stadium.