HKJA told most of its police complaints not pursuable

The Hong Kong Journalists Association (HKJA) on Tuesday said it has been informed by the police that all but one of 27 complaints it filed against officers during the 2019 unrest have been classified as “not pursuable”.

The HKJA filed the complaints of suspected violence or harassment against reporters covering the 2019 protests to the Independent Police Complaints Council (IPCC) in June of that year.

The HKJA said the Complaints Against Police Office – the force’s internal complaints unit – replied to them on Monday. It told the association that only one journalist had provided the police with information regarding their allegation, and that case was investigated and sent to the IPCC.

However, since the reporters involved in the other complaints hadn’t provided further information between June 2019 and April 2021, the remaining cases were classified as “not pursuable”.

The HKJA said in a statement that most of the cases had included the names of the reporters involved as well as pictures and videos of the incidents.

But the association said it was not surprised by the police’s reply, and expressed disappointment with both CAPO and the IPCC.