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Protester acquitted over laser pointer possesion; Court questions Police's #professionalism in handling evidence

In November 2019, university student Chow Tsz-lok fell from height at Sheung Tak car park and passed away 4 days later. Memorial activities were initiated in multiple districts, which eventually turned into violent police-civilian clashes.

A female protester was arrested near Wong Tai Sin Temple for possessing a laser pointer and a wrench. She was charged with the possession of offensive weapon. In the end, she was found not guilty and acquitted.

Magistrate Cheung Tin-ngai accused the police of being unprofessional in the handling of evidence and violating the Police General Order. She criticized the officers for storing the evidence in a personal storage for 5 months, and not taking their statement until right before the trial. It is therefore unknown whether the evidence was tempered with and whether it even belonged to the defendant.

Source: InMedia #Sept2
https://bit.ly/3jz8wmE
#PressFreedom #WhiteTerror
Television documentary leading to HK journalist’s arrest shortlisted for Asian Television Awards

On November 3, 2020, Hong Kong Police arrested RTHK journalist Choy Yuk-ling (a.k.a. #BaoChoy) for violating the Road Traffic Ordinance, concerning searches done at an openly accessible Transport Department database on car owner information. The searches were carried out for a television documentary about an alleged police-mobster collusion in July 2019.

The television documentary, titled "7.21 Who Owns the Truth", showed white-clad mobsters carrying weapons gathered in Yuen Long town area before attacking passengers of West Rail train at Yuen Long Station. Police officers sighted at neighbouring scenes failed to intervene and showed friendly gestures towards them.

A day after Bao Choy was arrested, the said television documentary she produced was reportedly shortlisted for the 25th Asian Television Awards, a substantial recognition of Choy's professionalism.

[Editor’s Notes
The Asia Television Awards, held since 1996, are the most prominent and recognised events in the Asian television industry, with a judging panel of more than 60 professionals from different regions.]

Source: Cupid News #Nov4 https://www.facebook.com/117540932243292/posts/680432435954136/?d=n

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Related articles

Hong Kong Police arrest #RTHK producer Bao Choy, #HKJA: 'Police is picking on media'
https://publielectoral.lat/guardiansofhongkong/26518

Arrested News Docu Producer Reminds Journalists: Carry on what we ought to do
https://publielectoral.lat/guardiansofhongkong/26384

Police Arrests Journalist of News Programme Addressing Police-Triad Alleged Collusion during Yuen Long 7.21 Triad Attack
https://publielectoral.lat/guardiansofhongkong/26378

#YuenLong721 #Professionalism #PoliceState #PoliticalPersecution #ChoyYukLing #HongKongConnection #AwardWinning #AsiaTelevisionAwards
#Professionalism #Solidarity
5 Heads of i-Cable News and Entire China News Team Resign En Masse Against Laying Off of Journalists

On Dec 1, 2020, i-Cable News laid off 40 employees with immediate effect, angering staff at the TV news station.

According to the source, the head of i-Cable China News Szeto Yuen was the first to protest by resigning, followed by the rest of the journalists on the team. In total, one journalist was fired, and the other ten on the team, including Szeto, quit in protest. Some members from other teams also resigned to protest against the company's decision.

A senior journalist told Stand News that they felt it was better to take action together and alert the public that i-Cable News had deteriorated, instead being slowly and quietly weakened. He added that it was not worth staying anymore, since the management has intervened in the reporting again and again.

After recent salary cuts, a few junior journalists were only earning around 13,000 HKD a month. Operations at i-Cable News has nearly ground to a halt on Dec 1, 2020.

An upper-mid-level manager said that the top management had not consulted any department heads about this round of firing. The video editors and graphic designers who were fired were widely praised for their abilities by their colleagues. Many of the fired staff played important roles in middle and senior management.

i-Cable China News had investigated corrupt practices in China many times, and followed up the situation of activists; the team was long regarded to be in high reputation.

They were among the few public broadcasters in Hong Kong with a dedicated team for China news; its 11 members, including the team leader, are responsible for the daily China news reporting and the night-time “China Report”. They also have journalists regularly stationed in Beijing and Guangzhou.

Their most visible reporting in recent years were the 2012 interview of pro-democracy activist Li Wangyang, who served the longest sentence among those from the 1989 Tiananmen protests.

After broadcasting the interview, Li died in Daxiang Hospital, where he was found dead and leaning against the window, with a rope wrapped around his neck, though his legs were touching the ground. The Chinese authorities initially reported that he committed suicide, but they later changed the conclusion to “accidental death”. This incident caused strong repercussions in Hong Kong, with over ten thousand Hongkongers marching in protest, believing that Li "had been suicided".

In 2017, journalist Lam Kin-Shing covered the memorial at sea for Liu Xiaobo by a group of dissenters, the event was broadcast on Facebook live. Afterwards, Liu’s friends were arrested by China police, and the driver hired by i-Cable China News was detained for three days. Lam was transferred back to Hong Kong and barred from reporting in China again; he resigned soon after.

At the early stage of the Wuhan Pneumonia outbreak last year, China News team sent journalists to Wuhan for investigation. They were among the very few Hong Kong media who sent journalists to Wuhan for on-site reporting.

Moreover, the iCable China News team's reporting had won many awards, including Human Right Press Award and awards in the School of Journalism and Communication in CUHK. Their award-winning programs included “Damage of Nuclear weapons tests”, “The land acquisitions incident of Wukan village”, “ Li Wangyang”, “Even China police are protesting”, “Decoding the future of 30 years later”, “Tiananmen massacre 30th year anniversary”, “Poison milk powder: 10 years later”.

Source: Stand News #Dec1

=====
Related News:

All Department Heads from iCable News Quit After the Company Sacks 40 Staff in News Team

https://publielectoral.lat/guardiansofhongkong/27039

#WuhanPneumonia #LiWangYang #ChinaNewsTeam #iCable #MassResignation #SzetoYuen #Respect #Integrity #Journalism
#Hope
Daring Chief Editor in #CitizenNews Welcomes Journalists who Left #CableNews on #MassResignation: “We Have Nothing to Lose”

On December 1, 2020, Cable News in Hong Kong announced a major layoff plan after a series of personnel change in the management. The move has triggered a resignation en masse in the station’s newsroom, including 11 journalists and editors of the #ChinaNews team, as a sign of protest.

On January 18, 2021, the 11 of them announced joining of an online news platform, #CitizenNews, and continue their work on China News.

Former Assignment Editor of Cable News, Wong Lai-ping, expressed that it was a spontaneous action in last December when they resigned together in response to the station’s arbitrary layoff plan.

“We have never thought about coming together again. We even doubted whether we should continue working in the media industry.” However, many encouraged them to carry on their journalistic profession and continue to work as a team.

“So we talked among ourselves and agreed to work together with a focus on China News as we always do.”

The Chief Editor of Citizen News, Li Yue-wah said that the collaboration is “unplanned” and the consensus was reached after discussions following the mass resignation in last December.

She stressed that “This is worth trying as we have nothing to lose.” She called it an act “to smash the cooking pots and sink the boats.”

Li also revealed that since its launch 4 years ago, Citizen News has yet to balance its book. They initially set a target at 4,000 subscribers, for each paying a monthly fee of HK$100. “We are still falling short of this target,” Li sighed.

Adding 11 members of the former China News team from Cable News will double the current workforce of Citizen News. In addition, the news platform is planning to move to a bigger office with live-broadcast facilities. “This is going to double our expenses.” Li added.

She further explained that the platform is not going to pend on crowdfunding, which impact is believed to be short-lived. Instead, it is keen on expanding its subscription base to facilitate long-term development.

Source: Stand News #Jan18

#Pheonixism #Journalism #Professionalism
#OpinionArticle #Court #PoliticalSuppression
"I Do Not Plead Guilty": Hong Kong Journalist Facing Legal Challenge for Unveiling Suspected Police-Triad Collusion

[Editor's note: This is an opinion article written by Au Ka-lun, a veteran journalist in Hong Kong.

In this article, Au recounted what happened during a court hearing where Bao Choy, a journslist working for the public broadcaster RTHK, was charged by the Hong Kong authorities for "giving false statement". The case has stirred up the population's outcry for censoring media freedom and infringing free speech.]

On March 24, 2021, in the courtroom of the Western Magistrate’s Courts in Hong Komg, veteran journalist Bao Choy Yuk-ling resonantly said “I do not plead guilty”.

It is noteworthy that Choy said “I do not plead guilty" (我不認罪) instead of “I plead not guilty” (我唔認罪).

Bao Choy is a professional broadcaster who knows well the subtle difference between “do not” (不) and “Not” (唔) in Cantonese.

In Cantonese, the negation word that is pronounced “ng” is hard to sound out loudly, making it more difficult to be heard and message less affirmative.

Comparatively speaking, the sentence “I do not plead guilty” is more resounding and powerful.

Although I cannot see Bao Choy’s eyes and face through the screen, her clear response to the Court--by saying “I do not plead guilty” twice--found resonance outside the wall of the courtroom.

I heard not only her determination and defiance, but also her unyielding spirit with no fear, complaint and regret.

During the court hearing, the entire news documentary program, Hong Kong Connection: The Truth of 721. Perhaps, which was produced by Choy, was shown.

All those inside and outside the courtroom watched the investigative news programme, which is about the triad attack on pro-democracy protesters and passersby in Yuen Long on July 21, 2019, together.

We saw footages where a large group of white-clad gangsters gathered in the early afternoon; we even saw plain-clothes police officers witnessing the gathering of these Triad members.

The documentary recorded the suspected collusions between the police and the gangsters; questioned the police’s leniency towards the Triad; and demonstrated the journalists’ persistence in reporting the truth.

However, the Hong Kong authorities has deliberately tossed these facts aside. They charge a journalist for checking the car plates and owners' information.

It is a simple case, in which both the prosecution and the defendant did not summon a witness.

The case is upright and aboveboard, leaving Bao Choy nothing to defend for herself but holding her head high and said, “I do not plead guilty.”

Source: Stand News; #Mar24

https://www.thestandnews.com/court/%E8%94%A1%E7%8E%89%E7%8E%B2-%E6%88%91%E4%B8%8D%E8%AA%8D%E7%BD%AA/

#BaoChoy #AuKaLun #Journalism #Professionalism #RTHK
#Cinema #Art
#CannesFilmFestival screens Hong Kong director #KiwiChow's social movement #documentary “Revolution of Our Times” at the last minute

The annual Cannes Film Festival which is closing on July 17, 2021 suddenly announced that it will screen “Revolution of Our Times”, a documentary on Hong Kong’s pro-demoncracy movement in 2019, at 11am on July 16.

The documentary was directed by Hong Kong director Kiwi Chow whose previous works include Ten Years, and Beyond the Dream.

In his interview with the Wall Street Journal, Chow said he spent two years producing the film in secret. His friends had tried to convince to him to leave Hong Kong, hide his name from the film, or at least change the title of the film; but he refused.

“It is not freedom if I had to guess where the red line is”, Chow said.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the Festival announced the screening of “Revolutions of Our Times” at the last minute in order to protect the film crew.

On July 14, 2021, the Festival sent out an email to some media stating a “surprise documentary” would be added, and about 10 reporters were invited to a private viewing. The media were required to keep the news a secret until the afternoon July 15.

Source: Stand News; Hollywood Reporter; Wall Street Journal #Jul15

https://thestandnews.page.link/twLjaX818nrWtMTj9

#ProtestArt #Professionalism #HongKongDirector #RevolutionofOurTimes
#Conscience #Professionalism
HK Journalist Reporting Police Brutality Does Not Back Down Despite Threats

Wanchai district councilor #LeungPakKin was a journalist for #RicePost on the scene of the 8.31 Prince Edward Attack, and had recorded video of the attack as it unfolded in 2019.

Earlier in August 2021, someone had mailed him a box cutter blade, along with a threatening letter: "Shut up about 8.31, and your family will stay safe".

In response to inquiries by Stand News, Leung saif that he will not keep quiet because of the letter. He says that the attack had been a collective memory of everyone, and it will not disappear simply because he stopped talking.

He elaborates on his thoughts on the letter on his Facebook page, stating that it didn't have to be him talking about the 8.31 attack by the police. "The video already showed everything. The people and events in the video are the most important [proof]. The violence dealt by the armed men in the video, whether they're reasonable, whether they're proportional - there's no need for me to say more."

Leung said that he had turned down all interviews since last year.

Source: Stand News #Aug30

https://www.thestandnews.com/politics/%E6%9B%BE%E6%8B%8D%E7%89%87%E7%B4%80%E9%8C%84-831-%E5%A4%AA%E5%AD%90%E7%AB%99%E5%85%A7%E6%83%85%E6%B3%81-%E6%A2%81%E6%9F%8F%E5%A0%85%E6%94%B6%E5%88%80%E7%89%87%E6%81%90%E5%9A%87%E4%BF%A1

#831PrinceEdward #WhiteTerror #Censorship #Threat #DistrictCouncillor #Journalism