HONG KONG (AP) — A prominent Hong Kong journalist began serving a five-day prison sentence Friday after losing an appeal against his conviction for obstructing a police officer in a case that sparked concerns about the city’s declining press freedom.Hong Kong was once a bastion of media freedom in Asia, but news outlets have been forced to close, several journalists have been arrested and those still working are operating in a narrower space since authorities began cracking down on activist voices following the mass pro-democracy protests in 2019.Ronson Chan, a former chairman of the Hong Kong Journalists Association, was arrested in September 2022 on his way to a reporting assignment. He was accused of refusing to show the plainclothes officer his identity card upon request. A lower court sentenced Chan to five days in prison in 2023, ruling that he had failed to take out his identity card in a timely manner and kept asking the officer questions “recklessly.” He appealed the decision and was granted bail.
Deputy High Court Judge Lily Wong upheld Chan’s conviction and sentence Friday and ordered him to be sent to prison.
3 MIN READ
1 MIN READ
Ahead of the hearing, Chan, who wore a black T-shirt printed with the words “Free Press,” told reporters that he felt uneasy and complex. He said he stayed in Hong Kong to continue to pursue his journalism career because press freedom was promised by the city’s mini-constitution, the Basic Law.
