HKJA chairman Ronson Chan given 5-day jail term
Hong Kong Journalists Association chairman Ronson Chan was on Monday given a five-day prison term after a court convicted him of obstructing police while reporting on an event. Chan, 42, who works for online news outlet Channel C, was arrested in September last year after he refused to show his ID card to plainclothes officers at a meeting of homeowners in Mong Kok. The journalist, who pleaded not guilty, told West Kowloon Court that he was simply reluctant to hand over the card after an incident during the protests in 2019. A policeman had held up Chan's ID card to a TV camera which was live streaming. Chan's lawyer urged magistrate Leung Ka-kie to impose a non-custodial sentence, saying the journalist's actions were not premeditated. But Leung rejected this, saying Chan could have given the officers his card after they showed him their warrant cards. Despite receiving a prison term, Chan was released on bail pending an appeal. He was banned from leaving Hong Kong in the meantime and was ordered to hand over his travel documents.