Photojournalists stationed outside Hong Kong’s top court were made to stand across the road in police-approved areas on Monday, when the court heard an appeal from seven high-profile pro-democracy figures.
Three media zones were set up early Monday morning outside of the Court of Final Appeal, when judges heard the appeal of seven prominent democrats against their conviction over knowingly taking part in an unauthorised assembly on August 18, 2019, at the height of the protest and unrests.
Of the seven, four are currently in detention. Albert Ho and Lee Cheuk-yan were taken to court in Correctional Services Department (CSD) vehicles on Monday, while Jimmy Lai and “Long hair” Leung Kowk-hung were not present.
A grey inflatable tunnel was set up near an entrance the top court to prevent the detainees from being seen after stepping out of the CSD vehicle, a practice that authorities started to adopt last year.
Police required reporters and photojournalists reporting outside the court building to stay within the approved areas. Two were set up within view of the tunnel, where the prison vans deposited the detained democrats. Each area was across a road and was approximately 70 metres away from the tunnel. Reporters were not obstructed from entering the courtroom to hear the trial.
A third press area was set up metres away from the top court’s front entrance.
According to HKFP reporters’ observations, it was the first time authorities had set up media zones away from entrances to the court building.
One HKFP reporter, who arrived at the court at around 7.30 am on Monday, was asked by a police officer about his identity and was then urged to go to one of the press areas.
When asked why the media zones had been set up at a distance from the court, an officer from the police Public Relations Wing (PR Wing) said it was to prevent reporters from obstructing pedestrians.
At lunch time, photojournalists went closer to the court and took photos of Martin Lee and Margaret Ng – two of the democrats appealing their conviction – as they were leaving the court.
HKFP has reached out to the police for comment.
Local media outlet The Witness reported on Monday that the PR Wing said the media zones had been set up to provide better spots for photo-taking while preventing media work from obstructing passers-by. The police force added that if any reporter would like to shoot photos at spots outside of the media zones, the police would handle their request with flexibility.
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