Journalists Call For Probe Into Police Behaviour

The Hong Kong Journalists Association (HKJA) has called on the Chief Executive to set up an independent investigation into the police action targeting journalists during the mass protests on June 12.

In a statement, the association said 26 journalists have spoken of abuses by police and it wants the government and Independent Police Complaints Council (IPCC) to determine whether top-level orders were the cause of "these widespread and violent abuses".

Meanwhile, a group of staff from local newspaper Mingpao on Monday issued an open letter criticising the paper’s “biased editorial favouring authorities and the police”.

The editorial, published the day after last Wednesday’s violent clashes between anti-extradition protesters and police officers, said the protest “was directed by a group of radical activists who, dressed in black, played the core role” – and that whose who initiated attacks on the police should be condemned.

But in the open letter, anonymous Mingpao staff criticised the editorial for toeing the government’s line in calling the protests “a riot”.

The letter also said the editorial was seeking to make excuses for what it called the violence committed by the police and the administration, and turning a blind eye to all the evidence pointing to the use of excessive force by police.

The letter said the editorial was very cruel to those who were injured, as well as frontline journalists covering the clashes.

The staff members said in the letter that they understand the “shameful piece of editorial” cannot be retracted, but they made clear it did not represent their stance.