RTHK reporter arrested over fake guns

An RTHK part-time reporter was arrested for carrying suspected imitation guns and a walkie-talkie into Hong Kong Police College in Wong Chuk Hang yesterday.

The 21-year-old man, surnamed Hung, was stopped and searched at Ocean Park MTR station at 8.10am while he was heading to the college to cover the National Security Education Day event.

The man, who is also a film student at the Hong Kong Design Institute, told police the items were props used in a minifilm on Wednesday night, sources said.

He had merely forgotten to take them out of his backpack, he added.

The man was released on police bail and have to report back in the middle of next month. No charges have yet been laid against him.

Officers arrested him on suspicion of possessing imitation firearms and possession or use of any apparatus for radio-communications without a license.

RTHK confirmed that a part-time junior reporter was arrested yesterday morning.

The reporter was arrested and charged with assaulting police during the social unrest in 2019, but was acquitted by a court.

A spokesman for RTHK said it has "immediately suspended the duties of the concerned part-time staff and will fully assist in the police investigation."

Police Commissioner Chris Tang Ping-keung said he was "shocked" by the arrest, claiming that if the reporter had not been stopped by officers, there could have been serious consequences.

"The things he possessed were totally irrelevant to the job he claimed to be doing," Tang said. "Anti-terrorism drills were held in the police college today. If anyone had used their role as a journalist to take out two imitation guns during the drill, I can't imagine what could have happened."

He added: "Fortunately, our colleagues were vigilant and intercepted and arrested him before he entered the college."

Around 100 people have been arrested since the national security law came into effect on June 30 last year.

Half of them have been prosecuted, Tang said.

He also said the police national security department's hotline, set up in November, has received over 80,000 reports in the last five months.

Tang said there are still external forces who want to use their agents in Hong Kong to endanger the country's safety and are using certain sectors or media to implant thoughts of endangering national security into Hong Kong people.

Without naming the media organization, Tang criticized Apple Daily for dividing people through inaccurate reports and stirring up hatred for the country.

He said the police force has sent over 130 complaint and clarification letters to the media organization in the past year.

sophie.hui@singtaonewscorp.com