European press group says detention of 2 journalists in Macau a ‘serious attack on press freedom'
A European journalist organisation has condemned the detention of two reporters in Macau, calling it 'a serious attack on press freedom.'
The Society of European Journalists & Communication Professionals in Asia (JOCPA) issued a statement on Tuesday after police detained two journalists from online news outlet All About Macau, who tried to report on a legislative debate last week.
According to All About Macau, two of its reporters were taken for questioning last Thursday after trying to enter the chamber of the Legislative Assembly to report on a debate about the policy address.
Police detained the two journalists for 11 hours, the media outlet said in a Chinese-language statement on Friday.
The Estonia-based JOCPA called on authorities in Macau and Beijing 'to respect the basic rights enshrined in the Basic Law of Macau, including freedom of the press.'
'The arbitrary detention of two journalists in Macao is a serious attack on press freedom
and a warning sign of increasing authoritarianism in the region,' JOCPA founder and president Josep Solano said in the statement.
'It is deeply disturbing that such actions can take place inside a legislative chamber -a space that should embody transparency and accountability.'
The Macau government-funded broadcaster TDM cited police as saying that the two reporters were suspected of violating the offence of 'disrupting the operations of the Macau Special Administrative Region authorities.'
The reporters tried multiple times to enter the chamber but were rejected, police told the public broadcaster.
The pair were taken to a police station after legislative staff called the police because the journalists allegedly shouted in the chamber, it also reported.
Local media outlet Macau Elephant reported that three All About Macau reporters were banned from entering the legislature chamber on Tuesday, when the city's new chief executive, Sam Hou Fai, delivered his maiden policy address.
Two days later, All About Macau reporters tried to enter the chamber to report on the legislative debate on the policy address, which was attended by Cheong Weng Chon, the Macau secretary for administration and justice. However, some staff formed a human barricade to prevent journalists from entering.
Shrinking space
One of the two detained reporters taken away is the president of the Macau Journalists Association, the press union said on Friday.
It also said that it 'deeply regrets' the incident and that the two reporters 'may face possible criminal charges.'
According to the press union's statement on April 13, the Macau government has banned many local magazines and online media outlets from reporting official events, especially those attended by top officials, over the past 100 days since the inauguration of the new administration.
'Looking at the recent situation, the space for covering government news has shrunk significantly,' it said. 'This is not an isolated event, nor are only individual media outlets affected.'
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