The West Kowloon Magistrates’ Courtroom on Monday sentenced the top of the Hong Kong Journalists Affiliation Ronson Chan to 5 days in jail, in line with the Hong Kong Free Press (HKFP). As this resolution is on the magisterial degree, the official opinions won’t be printed till 2024.
Chan was discovered responsible of obstructing a police officer as he refused to current his identification card to a plainclothes police officer whereas reporting in Mong Kok final September. Chan pleaded not guilty to the cost of obstructing a police officer in Could after being arrested for purported uncooperativeness in presenting his identification card to the police officer. Whereas Chan acknowledged that he was involved about privateness breaches as his identification card had been beforehand proven on a reside stream, Justice of the Peace Leung rejected the likelihood that the police officer would have breached his privateness because the police officer didn’t possess gear which might expose Chan’s identification card then.
Chan’s counsel urged for Leung to superb or sentence Chan to neighborhood service as a substitute of imprisoning him. Nonetheless, Leung acknowledged {that a} superb or neighborhood service order could be inadequate in reflecting the gravity of Chan’s offence. She held {that a} quick interval of imprisonment was appropriate punishment for Chan. Whereas Leung didn’t discover Chan remorseful for his actions, she lowered Chan’s sentence from seven to 5 days in mild of Chan’s good character and his contributions to the Hong Kong media trade.
Chan’s sentence has fueled concern about press freedom in Hong Kong. Beforehand in July, the Hong Kong Journalists Affiliation wrote that Hong Kong’s press freedom rating had dropped 4 instances in 4 consecutive years. It additionally acknowledged that press freedom in Hong Kong has deteriorated since 2019.
