Journo cleared in license-plate search saga

Former RTHK producer Bao Choy Yuk-ling yesterday won an ultimate appeal at the city's top court against her conviction of making false statements in a car plate search for an investigation into the Yuen Long attack during the social unrest in 2019.

The Court of Final Appeal overturned the conviction, saying "genuine investigative journalism" on whether a car owner has committed a crime should not be excluded from transport-related matters.

Choy, 39, was fined HK$6,000 at West Kowloon Magistrates' Courts in April 2021 for two counts of making false statements to obtain vehicle ownership records for journalistic purposes rather than transport-related issues as she had declared.

She appealed in August 2021 but was dismissed by the High Court. She then brought the case to the Court of Final Appeal.

Chief Justice Andrew Cheung Kui-nung, permanent judges Roberto Ribeiro, Joseph Fok and Johnson Lam Man-hon and nonpermanent judge William Gummow allowed Choy's appeal unanimously.

Fok said he prefers to read the option of "other traffic and transport related matters" in a broader way to include serious investigative journalism. "It has not been suggested that the appellant's investigative journalism was anything other than bona fide and serious," he said.

"On this footing, the statement made by the appellant when applying for the certificate of vehicle particulars was not false."

Even if journalism investigation was excluded from the category, Choy still did not make a false statement on purpose, Fok said. There is a history of journalists applying for certificates of vehicle particulars for journalistic purposes, he said.

According to a Legislative Council paper, half of the 22,100 certificates for vehicle particulars were issued to companies in 2010, of which 25 percent were media and news agencies, Fok said.

This means at least 2,800 registrations of car licenses were obtained by journalists in one year.

"The verdict today is good news to the journalism industry," Choy said. "The ruling makes it clear that press freedom is our constitutional right."

Choy also said it's been 30 months since she was arrested in November 2020 and the accusation against her had restricted her career.

But she hopes journalists are not scared off by the incident and should not hesitate during news investigations, adding that the industry should adapt work arrangements based on the ruling.

The Hong Kong Journalists Association also welcomed the court's ruling. "It's ridiculous that journalists are arrested, prosecuted and even convicted for investigating the truth," it said.

Former director of public prosecutions Grenville Cross said the "carefully reasoned judgment" gives full weight to freedom of speech and the press.

And Chief Secretary Eric Chan Kwok-ki said the authorities will review current procedures according to the judgment.

wallis.wang@singtaonewscorp.com