Hong Kong: Police Pepper Spray The Crowd In July 1 Demonstrations, Journalist Chermaine Lee Affected

Location: Hong Kong
Date: July 3, 2020

Hong Kong police charged at demonstrators gathered to hold the annual July 1 March on Wednesday. Among the affected was Multimedia journalist Chermaine Lee, who was covering the march on behalf of CNN.

The Hong Kong protests is an annual protest rally originally held by the Civil Human Rights Front from the day of handover in 1997 on the HKSAR establishment day. 

However this year, authorities rejected an application by the Civil Human Rights Front to hold the protest march. The reasoning behind rejecting the application was cited as public health risks arising from the coronavirus pandemic.

The crowd gathered regardless in Causeway Bay and used civil disobedience to protest against Beijing’s new national security law for the city. The new law, criticized for vague definitions of terrorism which can be used against opponents, came into effect at 11 p.m. local time Tuesday, on the eve of the 23rd anniversary of Hong Kong's handover from Britain to China. 

Chermaine Lee was among a crowd of people who were hit by pepper spray deployed by police.

Fellow CNN reporter Will Ripley tweeted footage of Chermaine Lee receiving treatment while wearing a CNN branded helmet, assuring “she will be ok”.

#breaking Hong Kong police have just fired pepper spray into a crowd that is assembled in Causeway Bay. Journalist @chermainelee22 who is on our @cnn team, was hit. I know from experience, it feels absolutely dreadful. But she’ll be ok. pic.twitter.com/PmiDXdmpk3

— Will Ripley (@willripleyCNN) July 1, 2020

Lee is not the only journalist who has been caught in the middle of police violence in Hong Kong. On September 29 2019, Indonesian Journalist Veby Mega was hit in the eye with a projectile thought to be a rubber bullet while covering nationwide protests.

Veby has been left blinded since then and has been searching for justice. You can read our statement on the incident here.

The Coalition For Women In Journalism welcomes the news of speedy recovery of Chermaine Lee, and deplores the acts of violence by Hong Kong police.

The CFWIJ strongly condemns the police brutality against journalists. We demand the immediate return of the press cards seized from the security forces. Policies to intimidate journalists should be abandoned, and journalism should be practiced under the criteria of freedom of the press.

If you have been harassed or abused in any way, and please report the incident by using the following form.