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Jul 18, 2023

Hong Kong: Former HKJA chair detained

Senior journalist and former Hong Kong Journalists Association (HKJA) Chair Mak

Senior journalist and former Hong Kong Journalists Association (HKJA) Chair Mak Yin-ting was detained by police for several hours while reporting on the 34th annual commemoration of the Tiananmen Square Massacre in Hong Kong's Causeway Bay. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) condemns Mak's detention and urges authorities to respect press freedom and investigate her arrest.

Former HKJA Chair Mak Yin-ting stands surrounded by multiple police officers shortly before her detention in Causeway Bay on June 4, 2023. Credit: Twitter

On June 4, Hong Kong correspondent for Radio France International and freelance journalist, Mak Yin-ting, was one of several activists, unionists and journalists detained following the wide-scale deployment of police in Causeway Bay. Vigils and other memorials have been banned in the city and Macau since 2021, with the suburb being a prominent location for commemorators before and after the imposition of the National Security Law in 2020.

Mak was stopped by law enforcement at around 6 pm while interviewing members of the public in Causeway Bay. The journalist identified herself as a member of the press asking to meet the police's media liaison branch. Police insisted that she would have to partake in a personal search operation at a nearby tent and that she would be released shortly.

The journalist was instead placed in a police van and sent to Wan Chai Police Station. Despite listing her objections to entering the vehicle, the journalist was threatened with a charge of obstructing the police if she did not follow the order. She was held in custody for approximately five hours and released at around 11 pm.

Mak has served on the HKJA's executive committee for over 20 years, having led the association as Chair from 1996 to 2003, and from 2009 until 2013. The journalist covered the brutal state crackdown on protesters in Tiananmen Square in 1989, inspiring her unionism and advocacy for press freedom in Hong Kong.

The IFJ said: "The actions of police towards journalist and former HKJA leader Mak Yin-ting are concerning, with her detention for several hours, despite identifying herself as a journalist, representing a gross overreach by law enforcement. The IFJ condemns her detention and calls on the Hong Kong authorities to conduct an immediate, transparent, and thorough investigation into the actions of the officers."

For further information contact IFJ Asia - Pacific on [email protected]

The IFJ represents more than 600,000 journalists in 140 countries

Twitter: @ifjasiapacific, on Facebook: IFJAsiaPacific and Instagram

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