On June 4th, which marked the 35th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square crackdown, Hong Kong police arrested at least 4 individuals in the Hong Kong Island area and took away many others, including journalists. The Hong Kong Journalists Association issued a statement on the 5th criticizing the unjustified warnings, arrests, and removal of journalists by the police.
The association mentioned that its chairman and Director of Multimedia Production at Channel C, Patrick Chan Long-sing, was unreasonably accused by the police of breaching the police cordon while conducting interviews in Causeway Bay last night. The HKJA stated that Chan Long-sing was conducting interviews outside Hysan Place in Causeway Bay around 8:30 pm last night when a superintendent invited him to enter the cordon. However, a chief inspector later issued at least two verbal warnings to him, falsely accusing him of leading the disorder, breaching the police cordon, demanding that he leave immediately, and warning of immediate arrest if there was any more “disruption.” Eventually, Chan Long-sing voluntarily left the cordon.
The HKJA also reported that photographer Marc Progin, who was filming on site, was taken away by the police and released several hours later. The association emphasized that this was not the first time the police had obstructed journalists from reporting on June 4th and warned or arrested journalists without reasonable grounds, calling it a serious infringement on press freedom and demanding an explanation from the police.