Reporters Without Borders (RSF) urges democracies to pressure the Beijing regime to repeal the law that will allow any journalist writing about Hong Kong to prosecute a life imprisonment charge, even the death penalty if cases were tried in China.
The regime of Beijing adopted on June 30, in defiance of its international commitments, a national security lawwhich makes liable to life imprisonment, even the death penalty if cases are tried in China, “terrorist activities” , “secession” , “subversion” and “collusion with a foreign power” linked to Hong Kong. The law could be invoked against journalists wherever they are based in the world. A large majority of the 114 journalists and defenders of press freedom currently detained in China have been arrested or sentenced on similar charges.
“This ubiquitous regulation, which opens the door to all arbitrariness, not only gives the Beijing regime the means to harass and apparently punishjournalists who it dislikes in Hong Kong, but also to intimidate commentators based in abroad by threatening them with prosecution and imprisonment,protests Cédric Alviani, director of the East Asia office of Reporters Without Borders (RSF), who calls on democracies to ” put pressure on China to prevent it to stifle press freedom in Hong Kong and establish the “new world media order” to which it aspires. “
The new law, as ambiguous and vague in its original Chinese version as in its English translation and which entered into force upon its promulgation, seems to be able to apply to any journalist dealing with Hong Kong, whether the person resides in the territory or not (Article 38). It provides for a maximum sentence of life imprisonment in the normal case of a trial in Hong Kong but, although never using the word “extradition” , it reserves the possibility of a trial in the People’s Republic of China (Article 55 ), where crimes against national security are punishable by the death penalty. Finally, the law provides for holding certain trials separate from the public and the media (Article 41).
With this catch-all law, the directors of the satirical television show Headliner , recently deprogrammed from the public network RTHK after mocking the police, would have risked a charge of “subversion” . Victor Mallet , Financial Times editor for Asia , expelled from Hong Kong in 2018 after moderating a debate at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club giving the floor to a pro-independence activist, could have been accused of promoting “secession” ” As for the journalists Ma Kai-chung and Wong Ka-ho , currently being prosecutedfor “participating in a riot”after covering the occupation of the premises of the Legislative Council last year, they could simply have been accused of “terrorist activities”.
To enforce the new law, the Beijing regime plans to set up in Hong Kong a National Security Safeguard Office (Article 48) empowered to monitor the activity of the media and foreign correspondents (Article 54). It also intends to create a National Security Safeguarding Committee (article 12), with police powers, which will not be subject to local courts (article 14) and will therefore be able to engage in intimidation and surveillance without hindrance. journalists and their sources.
Formerly a bastion of press freedom, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region has experienced a dramatic decline since its handover to China, going from 18th place in the creation of the RSF World Press Freedom Classification in 2002 to the 80th place this year. The People’s Republic of China is stagnating 177th out of 180 countries and territories assessed.
Copyright ©2016, Reporters Without Borders. Used with the permission of Reporters Without Borders(RSF), CS 90247 75083 Paris Cedex 02 https://rsf.org
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