Paris, May 30 (IANS): A leading international press freedom organisation strongly condemned the imprisonment of senior journalist and former chairman of the Hong Kong Journalists Association, Ronson Chan, on charges of obstructing a police officer, warning that the ruling sets a dangerous precedent and undermines press freedom in Hong Kong. According to Reporters Without Borders, Chan, former deputy assignment editor of the now-defunct Hong Kong-based Stand News, lost his appeal against the conviction on Friday and was sentenced to five days in prison, which took effect immediately. Chan was initially arrested in September 2022 while covering a homeowners’ meeting at a residential estate in Hong Kong’s Mong Kok area for independent media Channel C, after questioning a plainclothes police officer who attempted to obstruct his reporting, alleging Chan was acting suspiciously. “The imprisonment of Ronson Chan, a leading figure in independent journalism in Hong Kong, on trumped-up charges, demonstrates how far the authorities are willing to go to silence independent media. The verdict sets a dangerous precedent, effectively giving the police a free hand and further eroding already dismantled press freedoms,” said Aleksandra Bielakowska, Advocacy Manager, RSF Asia Pacific.
RSF noted that Chan previously served as deputy assignment editor at Stand News, a non-profit Chinese-language news outlet once regarded as the second most influential independent media outlet after Apple Daily, which was forced to shut down following a police raid in 2021 during which six journalists were arrested, while editor-in-chief Chung Pui-kuen and Patrick Lam were later sentenced to prison terms. The group also highlighted that the HKJA, a non-profit organisation dedicated to protecting press freedom and supporting journalism in Hong Kong since 1968, has been subjected to numerous attacks over the past decade by the government and pro-Beijing supporters, including random tax audits, surveillance and doxing, and remains one of the last independent organisations operating in the city despite continued pressure to toe the line. RSF further noted that authorities have prosecuted at least 28 journalists since 2020 with nine currently in detention, and that Hong Kong has dropped from 18th place in 2002 to 140th in the 2026 World Press Freedom Index, while China ranks 178th out of 180 countries.