• About Us
  • Who Are We
  • Work With Us
Thursday, August 18, 2022
No Result
View All Result
NEWSLETTER
The Globe Post
39 °f
New York
44 ° Fri
46 ° Sat
40 ° Sun
41 ° Mon
No Result
View All Result
The Globe Post
No Result
View All Result
Home Democracy at Risk Media Freedom

Hong Kong Journalist Convicted Over Public Database Searches

Staff Writer by Staff Writer
04/22/21
in Media Freedom, World
Bao Choy

Bao Choy was found guilty by a magistrate on two counts of "knowingly making a false statement." Photo: Anthony Wallace / AFP

Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

An award-winning Hong Kong journalist was found guilty on Thursday of improperly searching a public vehicle licence database to help track down the perpetrators of an attack on democracy supporters by government loyalists.

The conviction of Bao Choy, a producer with public broadcaster RTHK, comes at a time of deepening concerns over press freedoms in the international business hub as Beijing stamps out dissent in the wake of huge democracy protests.

Choy, 37, was found guilty by a magistrate on two counts of “knowingly making a false statement” to access number plate ownership records.

“Members of the public do not have an absolute right to obtain any document under this ordinance,” magistrate Ivy Chui said.

She faces up to six months in jail and a HK$5,000 fine ($640) at sentencing.

Colleagues and members of RTHK’s employee union gathered outside the court holding banners that read “Journalism is not a crime” and “Who wants the public kept in the dark?”

The database searches were made for an RTHK documentary last year called “Who Owns The Truth?” that investigated an attack on pro-democracy protesters by a gang of men armed with clubs and sticks.

The police’s failure to respond quickly enough to the July 2019 assault was a turning point in the huge and often violent pro-democracy protests that year, further hammering public trust in the force.

RTHK used footage from witnesses and security cameras — as well as number plate searches and interviews — to piece together events.

It uncovered new details about the alleged attackers, some of whom have links to politically-influential rural committees that support Beijing.

It also said that police failed to respond to the build up of stick-wielding men ferried into the district by specific vehicles that evening hours before the attack.

Choy was arrested after the documentary aired in November.

Hong Kong maintains a publicly-accessible licence plate database long used by journalists, including pro-Beijing news outlets.

But authorities announced a quietly-introduced rule change that meant journalists were no longer allowed to make searches.

During her searches, Choy ticked a reason box that said “traffic and transportation related matters”.

“The only reasonable and inference is that the accused applied for the (vehicle) certificate for the purposes of interviews, reporting and program production and these purposes have nothing to do with matters related to traffic and transport,” Chui ruled.

ShareTweet
Staff Writer

Staff Writer

AFP with The Globe Post

Related Posts

Hong Kong media outlet
Media Freedom

Third Hong Kong Media Company Shutters as Media Fears Grow

by Staff Writer
January 3, 2022
Hong Kong
Democracy at Risk

Hong Kong Launches China-Style Tracking App for Mainland Travel

by Staff Writer
December 2, 2021
Hong Kong
Democracy at Risk

Hong Kong to Create More National Security Offences: Official

by Staff Writer
September 20, 2021
Hong Kong
World

Hong Kong Saw Net Outflow of 90,000 Residents Over the Last Year

by Staff Writer
August 12, 2021
Chow Hang-tung
Democracy at Risk

Rights Lawyer Calls Hong Kong ‘City of Fear’ as Bail Denied

by Staff Writer
July 2, 2021
Hong Kong police raid
Media Freedom

Hong Kong Police Raid Pro-Democracy Newspaper Apple Daily, Arrest Five

by Staff Writer
June 17, 2021
Next Post
East Jerusalem

Over 120 Wounded in East Jerusalem Clashes

Nazanin Ratcliffe

British-Iranian Zaghari-Ratcliffe Sentenced to One Year in Prison

Recommended

Zelensky

Zelensky Calls on UN to ‘Ensure Security’ of Nuclear Plant

August 18, 2022
A demonstrator sprays paint over an upside-down portrait of Chinese leader Xi Jinping

China Use of Psychiatric Hospitals to Punish Activists ‘Widespread:’ Report

August 17, 2022
US President Donald Trump

Donald Trump Thanks You for Your Sacrifice

August 17, 2022
People carry their belonging on their heads while they walk on a flooded road following heavy rain downpour in Wawa in Ogun State southwest Nigeria

Deadly Floods Kill 50 in Northern Nigeria

August 17, 2022
Marina Ovsyannikova

Russian TV Journalist Faces Jail Time for Anti-Putin Protest

August 10, 2022
Mar-A-Lago raid

FBI Raid on Trump’s Home Ignites Political Firestorm

August 9, 2022

Opinion

US President Donald Trump

Donald Trump Thanks You for Your Sacrifice

August 17, 2022
Protesters stand with placards in front of the statue of India's independence leader Mahatma Gandhi in Parliament Square, central London, after a demonstration outside the US Embassy

Considering the Patience of Gandhi for These Troubled Times

August 5, 2022
US President Donald Trump

Owning the Words and the Libs

June 16, 2022
Officers in Uvalde, Texas, stand outside Robb Elementary School near a makeshift memorial for the shooting victims

Child Sacrifice Makes a Comeback

June 3, 2022
A Lebanese election official stands at a polling station

New Group Threatens Lebanese Elections… and Potentially Middle East Peace

May 18, 2022
A man holding a gun

Safely Back in USA, Land of Guns and Burgers

May 2, 2022
Facebook Twitter

Newsletter

Do you like our reporting?
SUBSCRIBE

About Us

The Globe Post

The Globe Post is part of Globe Post Media, a U.S. digital news organization that is publishing the world's best targeted news sites.

submit oped

© 2018 The Globe Post

No Result
View All Result
  • National
  • World
  • Business
  • Interviews
  • Lifestyle
  • Democracy at Risk
    • Media Freedom
  • Opinion
    • Editorials
    • Columns
    • Book Reviews
    • Stage
  • Submit Op-ed

© 2018 The Globe Post