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HONG KONG: A Hong Kong journalist was arrested on Tuesday (November 3) in an investigation linked to a recent documentary she co-produced in which she investigated an attack on pro-democracy by government supporters, a move her employers described as “chilling”.
Public broadcaster RTHK said officers searched producer Choy Yuk-ling’s home after his arrest.
Police confirmed the operation Tuesday night, saying Choy was arrested on suspicion of making an incorrect request to access the car’s owner’s details.
READ: Masked men assault protesters and commuters at Hong Kong MTR station
RTHK established a direct link between Choy’s arrest and an investigation it co-produced into the Yuen Long attack, an assault in July last year by dozens of men armed with sticks on people returning from a protest.
“The show revealed how the police were patrolling the city before the riot and took no action on the men carrying guns,” RTHK said in a tweet announcing Choy’s arrest.
“Like everyone else, I am also concerned that this will have a chilling effect,” RTHK director Leung Ka-wing told reporters.
The footage of the assault in Yuen Long, a city near the rural border with mainland China, and the failure of police to respond quickly enough was a turning point in last year’s huge and often violent protests, which hit even more public confidence in the force.
In a documentary titled Who Owns The Truth ?, released as the first anniversary of the attack approached, RTHK used footage from witnesses and security cameras, as well as license plate records and interviews, to piece together what happened that night.
He uncovered new details about the alleged attackers, some of whom have ties to politically influential rural committees that support Beijing.
He also said the police did not respond to the concentration of men with sticks in the district that night before the attack.
READ: Hong Kong police ‘stretched out’, took longer to respond to train station attack: police commissioner
While police admitted not responding quickly enough, arguing that officers were busy dealing with large-scale protests elsewhere, they have vehemently denied any suggestion of collusion.
Police say they have arrested several of the attackers, some of whom have ties to organized crime gangs of the “triad”. Some fled to the Chinese mainland.
More recently, police arrested some of those targeted by the mob on charges of riot.
The Hong Kong Journalists Association condemned Choy’s arrest.
“Searching for the truth is the job of the media,” the association said. “The license plate search is a common investigative method used by reporters.”
RTHK is publicly funded, but editorially independent from the Hong Kong government.
Its coverage of last year’s big protests prompted calls from leading pro-Beijing figures to assert greater control over its production.
READ: Hong Kong protesters clash with police at Yuen Long MTR station
The government has since launched a review of RTHK, a move critics fear will hamper its independence.
Unlike mainland China, where news is tightly controlled, Hong Kong has a vibrant media landscape and is home to regional headquarters for many international news outlets.
But its reputation as a bastion of the free press is fading. Since 2002, Hong Kong has slipped from 18th place in Reporters Without Borders’ world press freedom rankings to 80th this year.
