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National security law: RTHK removes programme featuring wanted Hong Kong activist Nathan Law, raising fresh concerns over press freedom
- Revelation comes just days after 200 police officers raided headquarters of newspaper Apple Daily
- Show on postponement of Legco elections aired on RTHK’s Channel 31 on July 31 but was removed from website and YouTube the following day
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Hong Kong’s embattled public broadcaster has removed a current affairs programme featuring wanted activist Nathan Law Kwun-chung from its website, a move which has raised further concerns about press freedom, following a sweeping national security law imposed by Beijing six weeks ago.
The revelation that RTHK took the programme 2020 Legco elections postponement offline came just days after 200 police officers raided newspaper Apple Daily’s headquarters after arresting founder Jimmy Lai Chee-ying for alleged collusion with foreign forces.
Last week, the city’s Foreign Correspondents’ Club also spoke out against a trend that saw foreign journalists face delays in getting work visas, as it sought clarification over the law.
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The show aired on RTHK’s Channel 31 on July 31, a few hours after the city’s leader controversially invoked emergency powers to postpone the Legislative Council elections scheduled for September by one year because of the Covid-19 pandemic. The host interviewed politicians and scholars.
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Past shows can be viewed on RTHK’s website but the broadcaster pulled the programme from there and its YouTube account on August 1, the day a police source told the Post that Law was one of seven people on its wanted list under the new law.
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