Chan is chairman of the largest journalist association in HK |
It is a relief to know that Hong Kong Journalists Association chairman Ronson Chan is flying out tonight to the UK to attend a six-month fellowship at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism at Oxford University.
Chan paid a fine related to a traffic charge |
Outside the court he told reporters he was looking forward to the six-month program as a temporary break from his 18-year career as a journalist in Hong Kong.
Meanwhile former lawmaker Ted Hui Chi-fung was sentenced in absentia to 3.5 years in jail for jumping bail in cases stemming from his alleged disruptive behaviour in the Legislative Council and for participating in the 2019 protests.
It is the first time a fugitive was sanctioned in absentia for offences allegedly committed in Hong Kong related to the protests.
Hui and his family have settled in Adelaide |
It was later revealed that Hui enlisted the help of Danish parliamentarians to draft a fake itinerary and invitation to enable him to leave Hong Kong on what was thought to be official business.
Hui's parents, wife and children left the city soon after he did, and they are now settled in Adelaide, Australia.
The judge ruled in June that Hui had consciously abandoned his right to defend himself, pointing to his Facebook posts where he "continued to display his displeasure or dissatisfaction towards the legal system in Hong Kong" and "proclaimed publicly his disdain for the integrity of this court".
Hui was in Denmark in November 2020 |
"The only objective effect of a severe sentence on me is to exacerbate the deterioration of Hong Kong's rule of law, giving the entire world a glimpse on how the Hong Kong court is content with persecuting residents fighting for freedom and democracy in cahoots with tyranny," he said.
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