Students march over university reporter's arrest

Students march over university reporter's arrest

Dozens of Baptist University students staged a march on campus on Monday demanding the institution's management offer support to a student reporter arrested on Sunday night.



The journalist was covering disturbances in Fortress Hill for the university's news channel when he was arrested by police, reportedly after he was found to be carrying a table knife. The student's friends said he had the knife for cutting mooncakes.



One of the student reporters who was at the scene on Sunday night told campus radio that she was stopped from filming the police search by officers who said she should not obstruct their work. Later when she tried to use her phone to notify seniors and lecturers about the incident, that was also stopped by police, she said.



The student reporter also said officers behaved rudely and this was the first time their bags had been searched by officers. All the students had vests that clearly marked them as being from the media, she said.



Demonstrating students chanted slogans such as "release the arrested reporter!" as they marched through the Kowloon Tong campus over the arrest.



They urged management to provide the arrested student with legal and financial assistance and for it to condemn the police for making "unjust" arrests.



Some of the students gathered outside the office of the university's president, Ronald Chin, to demand a meeting with him.



Chin had earlier sent an email to students, staff and alumni saying the university was deeply concerned about the arrest and that management had contacted the police to urge them to handle the case fairly.