Bao Choy’s 7.21 documentary wins human rights prize

An RTHK documentary into the Yuen Long gang rampage in July 2019 won another award on Thursday, two weeks after one of its producers, Bao Choy, was convicted over her investigative work for the programme.

There is also recognition in this year’s Human Rights Press Awards for Nabela Qoser, who is being let go by the broadcaster following complaints by pro-Beijing figures.

“In a year of a pandemic lockdowns, political upheaval in Hong Kong, and protests across the region, the winning entries… showcase courage and originality of journalistic storytelling about human rights in Asia,” said the Foreign Correspondents’ Club, Amnesty International Hong Kong, and the Hong Kong Journalists Association, which together organise the annual awards.

Choy’s documentary, “7.21 Who owns the truth?”, won this year’s Chinese-language documentary prize.

“Chasing the smallest clues, interrogating the powerful without fear or favour. An investigative reporting classic,” the judging panel said of the RTHK entry, which was also produced by Paul Lee, Sze-Sze Cheng, Flora Yeung, Judy Chan and Yiu-ling Wong.

Choy was fined HK$6,000 last month after a court found her guilty of making false declarations while searching for the owners of cars believed to be linked to the mob violence. She said on Wednesday that she will appeal against her conviction.

“Salute to all winners who uncover the truth, and speak out for the voiceless across the globe. There are so many stunning, heartbreaking and breathtaking stories,” Choy wrote in a tweet.

“The award is just a reminder for all of us to uphold our faith and principles.”

An entry from RTHK English News’ Joanne Wong was also awarded a merit in the Short Video (English) category.

Her report looked into how families in Hong Kong had been divided as a result of the 2019 anti-government protests, with members unable to reconcile their conflicting political views.

The government broadcaster collected five merits in addition to its win in the documentary category, with Qoser picking up two awards for videos she helped produce.

The Yuen Long documentary also took this year’s Kam Yiu-yu Press Freedom Award.

However, RTHK will not be accepting any awards during a “transition period”, as a review of its operations is conducted by the new Director of Broadcasting, Patrick Li.

In March, organisers of the Human Rights Press Awards said Li had asked them to withdraw RTHK’s entries “in totality”, but they said they were unable to comply with his request as judging was already underway.

There will be no awards ceremony this year for the Human Rights Press Awards, because of the pandemic.

The broadcaster’s management, in a new statement, reiterated its stance on awards, adding that “intellectual property rights of Radio Television Hong Kong programmes belong to RTHK.”