Ronson Chan was doing a report for the Internet portal Channel C. He is charged with obstruction of a public official and disorderly conduct. Since the Security Law was implemented two years ago, he has always fought for press freedom in the former British colony.
Hong Kong () – The police today arrested Ronson Chan, president of the Hong Kong Journalists Association (HKJA), the main local association of professionals in the sector. According to Hong Kong Free Pressthe arrest took place at the Mong Kok stadium while the veteran reporter was covering a meeting of property owners for the web platform Channel C.
The officers took Chan to the local police station after asking him to identify himself. He is allegedly charged with obstructing a public official and disturbing public order.
Chan began his second term as head of the HKJA in June. He planned to move to the UK next October for a research semester at the Institute Reuters from the University of Oxford.
At the end of December, the National Security Police questioned him – and later released him – in connection with an investigation into the activities of the news website Stand News, of which he was deputy director at the time. Following a police raid and the arrest of seven employees, the pro-democracy newspaper ceased to function. It’s the same luck that he had appledailythe independent publication founded by Catholic tycoon Jimmy Lai (imprisoned for almost two years).
Since the Beijing-imposed security law was passed in the summer of 2020, newspapers and industry organizations have come under intense pressure from pro-establishment authorities, the press and social media users. In addition to Stand News Y appledaily, three other newspapers have closed; there are several journalists in jail.
Chan has always taken a strong stance on this issue, denouncing that the serial arrests of reporters and columnists mark the end of freedom of information in the former British colony, an accusation that the local executive denies. In the past year, the city has dropped from 80th to 148th in Reporters Without Borders’ press freedom rankings.
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