Hong Kong Journalists Association takes police chief to court over acts allegedly affecting press freedom
- Association says journalists covering anti-government protests have been subject to ‘deliberately aggressive and obstructive police tactics’
- Alliance of Independent Journalists condemns Hong Kong police for shooting reporter Veby Indah in the face and demands arrest of ‘guilty’ officer
An association representing Hong Kong journalists has taken the city’s police chief to court over the force’s acts of alleged misconduct – such as attacking or blocking reporters from covering the protests – which, they say, have undermined press freedom.
The judicial review lodged by the Hong Kong Journalists Association (HKJA) came as a Jakarta journalists’ group said that the police officer who shot and blinded Indonesian reporter Veby Indah in one eye on Sunday should be arrested and charged.
In a statement issued on Thursday, HKJA said journalists had been subject to “a pattern of deliberately aggressive and obstructive police tactics as well as [use of] unnecessary and excessive force” since the citywide protests triggered by the now-withdrawn extradition bill erupted in June.
HKJA said both Police Commissioner Stephen Lo Wai-chung and the government had failed to take any effective steps to address the problem despite numerous statements issued by them and a raft of complaints from journalists.
“HKJA has therefore filed this judicial review to seek declarations from the High Court that the conduct of police has been unlawful and that police and the government have positive duties to uphold freedom of the press and to investigate complaints,” the statement read.
Among the acts of police misconduct alleged by HKJA were their use of high-intensity lights to interfere with visual recording, deliberate attempts to block reporters’ line of sight and withholding officers’ identities, as well as incidents of journalists being beaten, kicked, pepper-sprayed, targeted with tear gas and shot with rubber bullets and beanbag rounds.
Journalist demands answers after she was shot in the face
Meanwhile, the Jakarta branch of the Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) has strongly condemned Hong Kong police for injuring Veby, who is one of their members, and demanded the officer who shot her be arrested and charged.
Veby was covering a protest for local Indonesian news outlet Suara on September 29 when a riot police officer shot her in the face though she was clearly identified as a member of the press.
AJI chairman Asnil Bambani has also urged police to stop intimidating Veby by requesting her to meet officers in the hospital where she is undergoing treatment.
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The Indonesian consulate in Hong Kong stands beside Veby as she pursues her rights, the consulate’s media officer Vania Lijaya said.
But she said the consulate would not be involved in any legal action and denied local media reports that it would consider taking the force to international court.
Vidler said on Friday that Veby was yet to recover, but was strong and determined.
He could not comment on whether police had intimidated her, but said that officers from the force’s public relations branch had met him.
“Veby was not inclined to see them as she believed the police would only use it for public relations purposes. As it turned out, the police used their visit for public relations purposes,” he said.
Vidler said that instead of sympathy, Veby wanted a criminal investigation into why she was shot.
A request for comment has been sent to the police.
