'Unregistered' Reporters Fined Over Gathering Ban

Police on Thursday fined three online media journalists for breaching the public gathering ban when they were covering anti-government protests in Causeway Bay – in the first major public event after force brought in new media registration rules.

On Thursday evening, officers cordoned off a section of Paterson Street, and said journalists who are conducting “normal coverage” and could show their press pass would be allowed to leave.

But four journalists from online media outlets were questioned, and in the end three were fined for violating the ban on gathering of more than four people.

One of them said some officers, on the one hand, told her that the organisation she works for is not registered with the force, and that she had stayed despite being told to leave repeatedly, while other policemen told her to stay where she was inside the cordoned area.

In a recent announcement, the police had said it would amend the definition of journalists in its general orders to include only those registered with the government news service or who work for "well known" international media.

An observer from the Hong Kong Journalists Association who was in Causeway Bay to watch the police operations said he can’t see any logic in this.

Bruce Lui, who’s a journalism lecturer at Baptist University, said police had told journalists that as long as they could show their press ID, they would be free to leave.

He said most were indeed allowed to go, but some were singled out and treated differently.

Lui said the incidents demonstrated inconsistencies in what he called the illogical policy.

He also questioned whether frontline officers could decide who to “punish” despite clear guidelines set out by their supervisors.

Lui added it was unnecessary for the police to restrict access to the area in the first place, since there was no chaos at that juncture.