Hong Kong’s Press Freedom Getting Worse With Several Court Reporters Being Followed

On March 24, Hong Kong English-language online media "Hong Kong Free Press" (HKFP) reported that one of its court reporters was followed by two suspicious persons. When the reporter questioned their identity, they quickly fled. Courtesy HKFP

On March 24, Hong Kong English-language online media “Hong Kong Free Press” (HKFP) reported that one of its court reporters was followed by two suspicious persons. The Hong Kong Journalists Association HKJA) issued a statement saying that many court reporters were followed or monitored by unknown persons, and some reporters suspected that the stalkers were plainclothes policemen.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4uQUvAkEVrc&t=18s

Since the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) implemented the Hong Kong National Security Law (NSL) in 2020, more than a dozen media outlets in Hong Kong have ceased operations.

The two most notable ones, Apple Daily and Stand News were even put under charges of breaching the NSL. It shows that the freedom of the press in Hong Kong has deteriorated significantly, coupled with incidents of stalking, intimidating, and even attacking journalists being evidence the freedom of the press in Hong Kong is getting worse and worse.

HKFP reported on March 24 that a female court reporter of the agency was followed by two men from Kwai Chung to Kennedy Town for more than an hour on March 22. The footage shows that one of the men, wearing a long-sleeved white sweater, equipped with a Bluetooth headset, wearing a face mask, and holding a mobile phone, was questioned at the MTR station by the reporter about his identity and his intention of following her. The man refused to respond and chose to flee quickly into the masses.

The HKJA issued a statement on March 27 stating that it received reports from different news outlets last week that several reporters were being followed or monitored by unknown persons. After the trial of the “Stand News” case ended on the afternoon of March 21, two men wandered outside the reporter’s room of the district court, and they showed their credentials to the court security guard. One of them waited in front of the press room for more than an hour. A reporter said that the man tried to follow them as they left the court.

The Journalists Association pointed out that many of the journalists who were followed were responsible for reporting the court hearings and strongly condemned the attempts to harass or intimidate journalists. They believed that the situation was very worrying that some people would try to use threatening means to harm journalists’ rights to conduct interviews, which would do no good to showcase the freedom of the press in Hong Kong. The Journalists Association asked the police and the judiciary whether the men were law enforcement officers and whether there had been any law enforcement actions against journalists in recent days.

The police later denied it, saying that the suspicion was “unverified” and “purely speculative.” The Journalists Association urged the police to seriously investigate and follow up and bring the suspects to justice.

Incidents of Reporters Pushed by Police While Filming Prosecution Lawyers

On March 17, during the 42nd trial day of the “Stand News Case,” two reporters from “Ming Pao” attempted to film the representatives of the prosecution, Acting Senior Assistant Director of Public Prosecution of the DOJ Laura Ng Shuk-kuen and Acting Senior Prosecutor Jennifer Tsui Sin-chi leaving after the court adjourned in the afternoon. At the time, one police officer from the case management team twice pushed the Ming Pao reporter and insulted the reporter with abusive language: “What the f--- are you filming here!”

On March 20, after the “Stand News” case adjourned, at least six to eight police officers set up an “orange (cordon) ribbon” blockade in the court parking lot to prevent the media from approaching the Acting Senior Assistant Director of Public Prosecution Laura Ng Shuk-kuen, claiming they needed space to remove court evidence items. They registered the reporters’ cards and personal ID numbers of the journalists present one by one, and the uniformed policemen even took pictures of the journalists’ interviews. In the end, Laura Ng and others boarded a private car about six meters away from the reporters and left.

Media Outlets Shut Down, Journalists Targeted Since NSL Implementation

In October last year (2022), the International Federation of Journalists published the “Report on Freedom of Speech in Hong Kong,” criticizing the “National Security Law” for hollowing out Hong Kong’s press freedom. Since the NSL was implemented on June 30, 2020, between 2021 and 2022, at least 12 media outlets have ceased operations, including “Apple Daily,” “Stand News,” “DB Channel,” “Post 852,” “Citizen News,” “FactWire,” “Polymer,” “Mad Dog Daily,” among others.

A number of the media and their personnel were arrested by the National Security Department of the Hong Kong Police Force and subsequently prosecuted by the government on various charges. Jimmy Lai Chee-ying, the founder of Next Media Group, was convicted in several social movement cases earlier and was also accused together with several former senior executives of “Apple Daily” of colluding with foreign countries or foreign forces to endanger national security. Lai pleaded not guilty, and the trial is expected to start in September this year (2023). He is currently serving a sentence of five years and nine months in prison for fraud.

Chung Pui-kuen, the former editor-in-chief of “Stand News,” and Patrick Lam Siu-tung, the former acting editor-in-chief, were charged with “conspiring to publish seditious publications.” The two pleaded not guilty and the case is being tried in the District Court. “Stand News” blogger and senior media personality Allan Au Ka-lun was arrested by the National Security Department of the Police Force on suspicion of violating “conspiracy to publish seditious publications” in April last year (2022). The case has not yet entered the prosecution process.

Tang Cheuk-yu, former Taiwan Public Television Service special contract director, was arrested during a filming interview with PolyU on Nov. 18, 2019. In December 2022, he was convicted of possessing an offensive weapon in a public place and was sentenced to 15 months in prison.

In April 2021, our reporter Liang Zhen was followed by an unknown man a number of times and even had someone knock on the door of her residence. On the morning of May 11, when Liang went out from her home, she was attacked and hit more than ten times with a baton by an unknown man who was waiting downstairs of her residence, resulting in bruises on her legs. Liang later reported the incident to the police. The police replied to her about a week later, saying that at least one assailant suspected of the attack had been arrested in Yuen Long. But half a year later, the police informed Liang that the investigation had been completed, but there was not enough evidence to prosecute anyone.

Hong Kong Press Freedom Worsening: International Report

In May last year (2022), Reporters sans Frontières (RSF) published the World Press Freedom Index, and Hong Kong ranked 148th in the world, worse than the Philippines, Libya, and other similar countries. Compared with the 80th place last year, it dropped 68 places, which is the region that recorded the biggest drop, also its record low. RSF pointed out that Hong Kong was a bastion of press freedom in the past, but after the CCP passed the “National Security Law,” there has been an unprecedented regression.

In early March this year, the Varieties of Democracy Institute, Department of Political Science, University of Gothenburg, Sweden, published the “Democracy Report 2023.” Hong Kong fell to 139th from 123rd the previous year, or 41st from the bottom, and is rated among the 20 to 30 percent of countries and regions regarded as the least democratic.

This year’s report specifically mentions that the government’s censorship of the media has deteriorated most severely in Hong Kong, Afghanistan, Poland, Mauritius, and other regions during the past decade. The degree of “Government Disinformation” in Hong Kong has risen from about 2.5 points in 2012 to 3.5 in 2022. The score is close to that of Myanmar, Cambodia, North Korea, and other similar countries.