Journalist’s Appeal Rejected, Remains Guilty for Investigating the Truth

Bao Choy Yuk-ling, journalist and former producer of RTHK (local media), was found guilty of obtaining vehicle license information for making “721, Who Owns The Truth?” a special episode for the axed program Hong Kong Connection in 2019. On Nov. 7, the High Court judge rejected Choy’s appeal. At the same time, the judge proposed legislation to expand the rights of journalists to obtain vehicle registries.

The Truth Under Cover

On the evening of July 21, 2019, a few hundred gang members in white teeshirts attacked civilians indiscriminately with weapons on the streets and in the MTR station of Yuen Long. The incident is known as the 721 Yuen Long Attack, which is the iconic incident that deteriorated police/public relations. The police were accused of deliberately delaying their arrival and condoning the suspects and the pro-Communist forces behind them.

A survey released by the Center for Communication and Public Opinion Research of CUHK in 2020 found 80 percent of the public had a bad impression of the police due to the attack.

While Choy was investigating the incident and making the special report with her crew, and going through CCTV footage, they found a few suspicious vehicles nearby where the attack took place. Choy then proceeded to the Land and Company Registration Department to identify the vehicle owners by obtaining the registration plate information.

Journalists were allowed to obtain information from the government for investigation at that time.

Things changed in 2019.

In October 2019, the Transport Department revised the application form and required a declaration of the purpose of conducting a search. However, only three options were to be selected-“Legal proceedings,” “Sale and purchase of a vehicle,” and “Other traffic and transport-related matters.”

Choy selected “other matters related to traffic and transportation” in the column of “relevant use” and declared that the information filled in was true.

Choy tracked down a vehicle, suspicious of transporting suspects that night, which linked directly to the village representatives in Yuen Long, who had a close relationship with a pro-Communist legislation member, Junius Ho Kwan-yiu. Days before the attack, Ho published a video encouraging villagers in Yuen Long to beat protesters.

RTHK aired the special report in 2020.

Less than a year after the incident, the police described the incident as an “assault” into a “group fight.” They did not arrest or disperse any attackers in white that night. The police officer who commanded that night received a promotion. As of September 2021, the police have arrested 66 people on charges of unlawful assembly, rioting, and conspiracy to wound with intent, but only seven people have been charged, of which five were convicted of rioting.

On the contrary, the former legislative member Lam Cheuk-ting, who was attacked and bled from his injuries at the MTR station, was charged with rioting later. Lam and eight other people injured in the attack had to drop the civil lawsuit against Police Commissioner Chris Tang, which they had filed in January 2020 in relation to the attack, citing high legal fees.

The First Journalist Found Guilty for Searching Vehicle Registration Information

In November 2020, Choy was arrested and later found guilty of making false statements while obtaining a vehicle registry under the Road Traffic Ordinance.

Choy appealed, and on Nov. 7, the High Court rejected Choy’s appeal and retained the original verdict of fining Choy HK$6,000 (US$780).

Bao Choy Yuk-ling is the first journalist to have been found guilty of obtaining vehicle license registry information.

When she left the High Court, she stated she was not the only one disappointed with the verdict. So was the entire news industry in Hong Kong. “The failed appeal would directly impact the registry search system, which had been effective,” she said.

Choy declared loudly outside the High Court, “I have no regrets. I have a clear conscience.”

She pledged that if she had to do it all over again, she would still make the same decisions without hesitation.

Freedom of the Press Is no Longer Intact

While the High Court Judge announced his verdict and rejected Choy’s appeal, the High Court Judge also suggested the expansion of the rights of journalists to public access to vehicle registrations in Hong Kong.

Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu was asked about the High Court’s verdict and whether the government had plans to amend the current regulations to protect the freedom of the press and investigative reporting. Lee repeated the freedom of the media is “already in the pockets of Hongkongers.” He also claimed the Basic Law guarantees that press freedom is fully protected in Hong Kong,

Meanwhile, the authorities continue to tighten the search of registry matters.

Loss of Judicial Principle

Chung Kim-wah, a former assistant professor in the Department of Applied Social Sciences of the University of Polytechnic, Hong Kong, criticized the verdict in an online program.

“The principle of justice and the right to know is above everything else. Today’s court judgment shows the loss of the judicial principle.” Chung stated.

After the incident, the Journalist Association of Hong Kong requested the Land and Company Registry to add an option of “media reports” to the registry inquiry. Still, so far, it has not been successful.

Regulations Tightened After the Anti-Extradition Movement

Media often use registry searches as evidence of news reports. In addition to vehicle registration, other data, such as land sales, marriage data, and company registration, can be obtained through public searches.

However, after the anti-extradition movement got underway, the authorities continuously tightened the public search system.

On Jan. 5, 2021, former Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor claimed that data was obtained through registry searches and then shared on social media, causing potential danger and harm to registrants.

Lam, at the time, proposed, “While respecting the search function, what can we do considering the possibility of registrants being harmed? Individual departments are considering the execution.”

The Transport Department tightened its license registry searches regulation in October 2019. The department had removed “OTHER” as an option in the “Application for Vehicle Registration Details Certificate Form.” Instead of the previous four options, the form only provides three options: “legal process,” “buying and selling vehicles,” and “other matters related to transportation and logistics.”

Office of The Ombudsman: The Transport Department’s Response Ambiguous

After the arrest of Bao Choy, the Transport Department once stated that it would handle other applications besides form filing following Code On Access To Information. However, the now shutdown Stand News and HKC News (local media) complained to the Office of the Ombudsman about their experience of vehicle license registry search. Both former media pointed out that the authorities had never clarified the search process for the media.

The Office of the Ombudsman issued a report in 2022.

The report found that the Transportation Department did not explain its approval criteria after narrowing the search regulations. It also discovered that the government department did not directly point out that no applications would be approved solely for journalistic purposes. The Ombudsman’s office criticized the department’s responses for being ambiguous, putting applicants at a loss.

Public Data is no Longer Public

In January 2021, the Transport Department launched a new service.

Private vehicle owners can be informed if anyone applies to obtain their vehicle registration certificate. It allows any registered owner to be notified of the applicant’s name and the purpose of obtaining the data.

The Journalist Association of Hong Kong denounced the new arrangement as tipping off, as the persons searched would have the advantage of taking precautions and preparing for any investigations.