HKJA condemns police 'sex assault', arrest threats

Police stopped and searched dozens of journalists in Mong Kok on Sunday night, and threatened to arrest those who didn't turn off their cameras. File photo: RTHK

The Hong Kong Journalists Association (HKJA) has accused the police of once again targeting journalists covering the ongoing anti-government protests and obstructing their work, while condemning an alleged sexual assault by an officer on a female reporter.



A journalist from NBC says an officer grabbed her breast near Langham Place in Mong Kok on Sunday night. She says when she asked other officers at the scene to tell her his ID number, she was pepper-sprayed in the face.



As well as expressing anger over the alleged attack, the HKJA also complained that the police had obstructed reporters covering a protest to mark the anniversary of the Lunar New Year riot in Mong Kok in 2016.



The association said in a statement that a group of about 30 reporters were stopped and searched by riot police on Portland Street, along with dozens of other people.



The journalists were threatened with arrest if they did not stop filming, with officers claiming that the cameras could record the personal details on people's ID cards.



Other media workers who were not being searched were driven back around 100 metres, to Argyle Street.



The HKJA demanded an explanation from the force for searching the journalists, and to be told the legal basis for threatening to arrest media workers who were legally reporting in a public place.