SCMP photographer detained... and released
It was quite a tense day at the news room, I called him repeatedly in the afternoon to no avail. So when he walked back into the office - intact - later in the day needless to say we were all breathed a sigh of relief.
The details of his arrest are still sketchy - police allege he injured a police officer during their forceful removal. Apparently the officer is in a serious condition in hospital? The all-towering Xinhua has already come out and fingered the blame on Felix. Although he's scheduled to leave soon, the PSB say they may bring charges against him. I kept playing this scene from ATV News over and over again... it's the incident where police allege Felix 'kicked' a police officer: (In Cantonese)
At 2:07 when a cop drags down the cameraman off his ladder, his giant cam seems to have struck him in the head because for half-a-second maybe you see the cop bend down. Felix then appears on screen behind the fallen cameraman. Follow the cop who's bending over in pain with his hand covering his head. Same guy? For some reason Felix and the wounded cop are pushed towards together like they're telling Felix 'Look what you've done to him!' Fast forward a bit where Felix is being dragged away with a seemingly wounded officer. I can't say for sure if this was the cop Felix allegedly wounded or the one who got struck by the camera. But both are of the same rank (Captain).
I wonder if the Hong Kong Liaison Office will file any complaints against certain police... the Cable TV News reporter got man-handled quite roughly after all by those brutes. But from my experience I know Hong Kong crews have a certain tenacity when reporting back home... perhaps because there's so much competition as well as little room to maneuver, so some crews can get quite aggressive. Judging from the TV news footage I saw, the guys really didn't want to leave the press area and actively filmed their retreat. At the same time the mainland police revealed their usual brutish tactics so therefore a 'scuffle' was certainly going to happen!
But you know what, I'm glad us HK media guys have been getting a lot of attention. It goes to show how paranoid and scared the mainland government is of our media outlets, precisely because we're also Chinese. But we're really not! We can look like them, talk like them, enter China without a visa, blend in, yet free of government shackles - we are foreign media, but in disguise!
Here's a statement released by SCMP:
In regard to the detention of SCMP photographer Felix Wong by the Beijing police, the Editorial Department of the South China Morning Post makes the following statement (July 25, 2008):
Felix was detained this morning after being involved in a scuffle between Beijing policemen and members of the Hong Kong media while covering the sale of Olympic tickets. He was released this afternoon after paying a visit to the police officer he inadvertently hurt during the scuffle to express his regret. He has undertaken to assist the authorities with investigations into the incident.
It is most unfortunate that scuffles broke out between members of the Hong Kong media and Beijing policemen responsible for maintaining order at the points of sale. We believe Felix was just trying to do his job as a photojournalist. Both journalists and policemen, as well as the tens of thousands of Beijingers who queued up for the tickets, were victims of the relevant authorities’ failure to make proper arrangements for the orderly sale of tickets.
In regard to the detention of SCMP photographer Felix Wong by the Beijing police, the Editorial Department of the South China Morning Post makes the following statement (July 25, 2008): Felix was detained this morning after being involved in a scuffle between Beijing policemen and members of the Hong Kong media while covering the sale of Olympic tickets. He was released this afternoon after paying a visit to the police officer he inadvertently hurt during the scuffle to express his regret. He has undertaken to assist the authorities with investigations into the incident. It is most unfortunate that scuffles broke out between members of the Hong Kong media and Beijing policemen responsible for maintaining order at the points of sale. We believe Felix was just trying to do his job as a photojournalist. Both journalists and policemen, as well as the tens of thousands of Beijingers who queued up for the tickets, were victims of the relevant authorities’ failure to make proper arrangements for the orderly sale of tickets.
Labels: scmp photographer hong kong reporter felix wong detain arrest mainland police olympics news
posted by Ed @ 12:44 AM
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