2014-11-26
A local Hong Kong journalist collapses in agony after being hit in the face with pepper spray by police in the Mong Kok district of Hong Kong, Oct. 17, 2014.
AFP
More than 25 journalists have been injured in clashes with police during the Occupy Central movement, a Hong Kong journalist group said on Wednesday, as one reporter described being held down and kicked by police officers while shooting the clearance of protest sites in Mong Kok.
“To date, more than 25 journalists have been injured in clashes when police have used force in major operations,” the Hong Kong Journalists’ Association (HKJA) said in a statement on its website on Wednesday.
“Police have not just used force to disperse protesters, but also against people who are clearly identified as being in the media,” it said, adding that repeated meetings with police officials to complain about the issue appear to have had scant effect.
The group also hit out at the arrest early Wednesday of a member of a Hong Kong television crew during the operation to clear barricades and encampments from a major shopping street in Mong Kok district.
The Now TV employee—a broadcast engineer—was set upon by several police officers, who shoved him to the ground, pinning him there, according to video footage shot by the Now cameraman at the scene.
The engineer sustained injuries to the head and body, and later sought treatment at a nearby hospital, Now reported.
The station later issued a statement saying the police actions, which were claimed to be in response to an attack from the man, were “a serious violation of press freedom.”
The HKJA statement said: “We are shocked and outraged that a media worker has been detained without reason in the course of carrying out their reporting duties.”
HKJA spokeswoman Shum Yee-lan said the man had been setting up for a live broadcast of the clearance operation when he was arrested.
“In the confusion of the situation, there was probably some bodily contact, but you can’t make the case that the engineer was clearly trying to attack the police officers,” she said.
Hong Kong Human Rights Monitor Director Law Yuk Kai said he thought the officers overreacted.
“I don’t think there is very much evidence to support [the police claim that he had attacked them],” Law told RFA. “From a common-sense point of view, it’s hard to understand.”
“People shouldn’t get arrested so lightly for so-called attacks on officers. It’s pretty arbitrary,” Law said.
