An award-winning Hong Kong journalist yesterday went on trial for accessing vehicle ownership details on official databases during an investigation into the perpetrators of an attack on democracy supporters by government loyalists.
The prosecution of Choy Yuk-ling (蔡玉玲), a producer with public broadcaster Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK), has deepened concerns over press freedoms as Beijing moves to stamp out dissent in the wake of huge democracy protests.
Some of Choy’s colleagues gathered outside the court holding banners that read “Journalism is not a crime,” and “Without fear or favor.”
Choy pleaded not guilty to two counts of “knowingly making a false statement” to access license plate ownership records on Hong Kong’s vehicle database.
She faces up to six months in jail and a HK$5,000 fine (US$644) if convicted.
The database searches were made for an RTHK documentary last year, titled Who Owns The Truth? that looked into an attack on 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 pro-democracy protests that year, further hammering public trust in the force.
RTHK used footage filmed by witnesses and security cameras — as well as public license 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 police failed to respond to the buildup 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 last year.
Hong Kong maintains a publicly accessible license plate database, which has long been used by journalists, including pro-Beijing news outlets.
However, authorities announced that a rule change that had been quietly introduced no longer allowed journalists to make searches.
Prosecutors yesterday said Choy clicked “other traffic and transport-related matters” on the online form to justify her searches.
“Visiting the addresses and seeking to do interviews about the car and its use on a certain day is not related to traffic and transport — neither is news reporting,” prosecutor Derek Lau said.
Defense lawyer Derek Chan said that her search was “related to traffic and transport matters,” because she was trying to uncover who supplied weapons for the attackers.
“The car was seen transporting some weapons to the scene and the application was trying to figure out who might be using the car,” Chan added.
All media is state-controlled in authoritarian China, while foreign reporters face heavy restrictions. Hong Kong remains a major Asian media hub with a vibrant local press and many international outlets hosting regional headquarters there.
However, the territory has steadily slid down media freedom rankings since its return to China in 1997.
Since the democracy protests, Beijing has cracked down on opponents, imposing a sweeping National Security Law and unveiling plans to ensure only “staunch patriots” run Hong Kong.
Four people jailed in the landmark Hong Kong national security trial of "47 democrats" accused of conspiracy to commit subversion were freed today after more than four years behind bars, the second group to be released in a month. Among those freed was long-time political and LGBTQ activist Jimmy Sham (岑子杰), who also led one of Hong Kong’s largest pro-democracy groups, the Civil Human Rights Front, which disbanded in 2021. "Let me spend some time with my family," Sham said after arriving at his home in the Kowloon district of Jordan. "I don’t know how to plan ahead because, to me, it feels
The collapse of the Swiss Birch glacier serves as a chilling warning of the escalating dangers faced by communities worldwide living under the shadow of fragile ice, particularly in Asia, experts said. Footage of the collapse on Wednesday showed a huge cloud of ice and rubble hurtling down the mountainside into the hamlet of Blatten. Swiss Development Cooperation disaster risk reduction adviser Ali Neumann said that while the role of climate change in the case of Blatten “still needs to be investigated,” the wider impacts were clear on the cryosphere — the part of the world covered by frozen water. “Climate change and
Poland is set to hold a presidential runoff election today between two candidates offering starkly different visions for the country’s future. The winner would succeed Polish President Andrzej Duda, a conservative who is finishing his second and final term. The outcome would determine whether Poland embraces a nationalist populist trajectory or pivots more fully toward liberal, pro-European policies. An exit poll by Ipsos would be released when polls close today at 9pm local time, with a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points. Final results are expected tomorrow. Whoever wins can be expected to either help or hinder the
DENIAL: Musk said that the ‘New York Times was lying their ass off,’ after it reported he used so much drugs that he developed bladder problems Elon Musk on Saturday denied a report that he used ketamine and other drugs extensively last year on the US presidential campaign trail. The New York Times on Friday reported that the billionaire adviser to US President Donald Trump used so much ketamine, a powerful anesthetic, that he developed bladder problems. The newspaper said the world’s richest person also took ecstasy and mushrooms, and traveled with a pill box last year, adding that it was not known whether Musk also took drugs while heading the so-called US Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) after Trump took power in January. In a
RSS