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In the worst case, Francophone Marc Progin faces a year in prison for “causing riot.” Today the process begins.
A Swiss man is on trial today in Hong Kong: Romand Marc Progin. The freelance photographer is charged with causing public disturbances and assisting in an attack on a Chinese citizen. The French-speaking Swiss television RTS made it public.
Background to the allegations: Progin is in Hong Kong in the fall of 2019 when pro-democracy protesters harass a Chinese banker. A man in a ski mask hits him. Progin photographed the scene, as he says on French television.
Police probably hope they can identify the culprit with the help of his photos, Progin says. That is why he was arrested. Now in a worst-case scenario, the 74-year-old faces a year in prison.
A Swiss photographer in a Hong Kong court: That’s a rare case, says Steffen Wurzel, ARD China correspondent. “In Hong Kong, foreign journalists don’t go to court very often. And even if Mr. Progin is not a ‘classic’ journalist: he was clearly recognizable on the site as a photographer. “
It is not an everyday event, but a bad omen
In fact, you see Progin in the videos that circulate on the net. In the recordings she wears a signal vest; these are also used by foreign reporters to make it clear that they are not part of the march.
Freelance photographer Marc Progin faces a prison sentence for taking photographs at a protest rally.
Keystone
It is anything but commonplace for someone from abroad who is labeled in this way to be brought to justice, Wurzel said. But: “It also fits the picture, because it follows a trend.” Because, in principle, journalistic work in Hong Kong has become much more difficult in recent years. “That applies to foreign correspondents, but especially to the many journalists from Hong Kong itself.”
The Beijing government is increasingly withdrawing democratic rights from the Hong Kong protest movement. And the air is getting thinner for journalists, too, Wurzel reports. There is great uncertainty: “A professor at the Faculty of Journalism at the University of Hong Kong explains it this way: nobody knows where the red line is.”
As a result, a kind of self-censorship is installed, scissors to the head.
It is therefore increasingly unclear what authorities loyal to Beijing and the security apparatus will tolerate and where the limit of illegality lies.
The scissors in your head
For the German journalist, this follows a principle similar to the “Security Law” that the Hong Kong government enforced against the will of the democratic movement: “This vagueness has existed in mainland China for many years. As a consequence, a kind of self-censorship is installed, scissors to the head. “
Media: When in doubt, Chinese journalists would give up critical information to protect their own media, their very existence, and their families. “And many in Hong Kong agree that this is exactly what we are experiencing,” Wurzel said.
