Press freedom | Two HK journalists barred

Two Hong Kong journalists have been denied entry into the city on the eve of May 1, just as major protests are about to take place. Local authorities cited security concerns as the main reasons behind their denial.
The two reporters, both assigned by the pro-democracy media outlet Apple Daily in Hong Kong for today’s citywide rally, which has drawn 13 different organizations’ participation, were forced to return to the neighboring special administrative region. The police alleged that the city’s security would come under threat upon their arrival.
The Secretary for Security, Wong Sio Chak, told media he was not even aware of the reporters’ forced departure on the sidelines of an event celebrating Labor Day yesterday afternoon. Backed by the related security department’s decision, he said this view was based on the authorities’ professional judgment and was within the law.
“The PSP clearance department officers have made their professional judgment according to legal regulations as well as professional skills and techniques,” said the secretary. “It was utterly legitimate.”
The former director of the Judiciary Police also excluded the link of the entry denial to their profession, saying: “It has nothing to do with them as journalists.”
Two days ago, a Hong Kong social commentator, who has been publicly slammed by the neighboring government for his “misinterpretation of Beijing’s white paper” in his commentary published in a Taiwanese newspaper last year, was also asked by the local security forces to sign a note of entry denial, reported the same media outlet, Apple Daily.
Wong told the press that he welcomed any complaints from anyone who is unsatisfied with being rejected permission to enter. Staff reporter