Citizens' Radio
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Citizens' Radio (traditional Chinese: 民間電台) is a radio station in Hong Kong established by pro-democracy camp figure Tsang Kin Shing (曾健成). The station is run as a non-profit organization. It started trial broadcasting on 3 October 2005 on 102.8 MHz FM. The regular broadcasting hours are 7:00pm-8:00pm from Monday to Friday. The programmes can be heard in parts of Hong Kong Island, most of Kowloon, and on the Internet.
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[edit] Purpose
The principle of the station is "Be open and bravely speak out", so the main type of programming is a speech-based "phone-in" format. Sometimes Hong Kong legislators are invited as special guests. The station has also made live broadcasts of the Hong Kong July 1 marches and Vindicate June 4th and Relay Torch in the past.
Tsang has submitted an application for a sound broadcasting licence to the Television and Entertainment Licensing Authority, but the application is still pending. So technically speaking Citizens Radio's broadcasts are illegal. On 29 August 2006 with the court search warrant, the Office of the Telecommunications Authority forced the station to close down. But the station resumed broadcasting on 4 October 2006.
[edit] Citizens' Radio broadcast incident
[edit] Event
On May 25, 2007 Szeto Wah was speaking in a Mong Kok pedestrianised street hosted by Citizen's Radio. The topic of the programme involved the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre.[1]
| “ | I appeared as a guest speaker at a Citizens' Radio forum in the Mong Kok pedestrian zone on May 25. The topic was the June 4 incident.[1] | ” |
[edit] Charges
Eight people including Szeto Wah were prosecuted.[2] According to the summons, Szeto was using unlicensed radio equipment when delivering the political message. Only the chief executive or the director general of the Telecommunications Authority have the power to approve licences for such equipment.
[edit] Selective persecution
Szeto said he was discriminated against for this event, and had appeared on the same station before without being charged.[1] Other members who have spoken on the radio station included Anthony Cheung Bing-leung (張炳良) and legislator Choy So-yuk of the pro-Beijing Democratic Alliance for the Betterment of Hong Kong. They were not charged.[2][1] Politician Leung Kwok-hung (Longhair) added that this is "selective prosecution". Mak Yin-ting (麥燕婷), general secretary of the Hong Kong Journalists Association have said "Everything is subject to government discretion. The government can grant or deny you a license as long as it wishes. It is not in accordance with the rule of law."[3]
[edit] Others
After the prosecution, Hong Kong's Secretary for Justice Wong Yan Lung (黃仁龍) slumped to a six-month low in public confidence.[4]
The latest case follows an ongoing lawsuit in which Tsang and Leung are arguing that the Telecommunications Ordinance, specifically the granting of broadcasting licences, was unconstitutional.[5]
[edit] Post charges broadcasts
- On April 20, 2008 the station made a broadcast in Mong Kok after a three months break. It was hosted by radio founder Tsang Kin-shing. He was joined by veteran pro-democracy activist Szeto Wah and chairman of the League of Social Democrats Wong Yuk-man (黃毓民). Five other legislators also took part in the unlicensed broadcast.[6]
- On May 04, 2008 another public broadcast was made at Times Square.[7]
[edit] Court
- On Jan 8, 2008 the ruling by magistrate Douglas Yau Tak-hong (游德康) said certain provisions of the broadcasting law in the Telecommunication Ordinance was unconstitutional.[8]
- On May 23, 2008 six lawmakers and five democracy activists appeared in Eastern district court (東區裁判法院). The case was adjourned / suspended until October 15, 2008 waiting for the ruling of Douglas Yau.[9][10]
| English name (jyutping or pinyin depending on media coverage) |
Chinese name | Representing |
|---|---|---|
| Lee Cheuk-yan | 李卓人 | Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions |
| Emily Lau Wai-hing | 劉慧卿 | The Frontier |
| Lee Wing-tat | 李永達 | Democratic party |
| Fernando Cheung | 張超雄 | Civic Party |
| Albert Chan | 陳偉業 | Association for Democracy and People's Livelihood |
| Leung Kwok-hung | 梁國雄 | League of Social Democrats |
| Tsang Kin-shing | 曾健成 | Activists, founder of station |
| Lo Hom-chau | 羅就 | Activists |
| Yang Kuang | 楊匡 | Activists |
| Ko Wah-bing | 柯華 | Activists |
| Poon Tat-keung | 潘達強 | Activists |
- On Sept 10, 2008 the rulings by magistrate Douglas Yau will be heard in the Court of Appeal.[10]
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d The Standard. "Comment." Szeto faces Citizens' Radio rap. Retrieved on 2007-12-30.
- ^ a b Alliance.org.hk. "Alliance.org.hk." Szeto Wah under Prosecution. Retrieved on 2007-12-29.
- ^ Taipeitimes. "Taipeitimes." Hong Kong station defies ban. Retrieved on 2008-05-26.
- ^ South China morning post. "South China morning post." Controversies appear to shake public confidence in two ministers. Retrieved on 2007-12-29.
- ^ HKreporter. "HKreporter." Szeto faces citizen's radio rap. Retrieved on 2007-12-30.
- ^ South China morning post. "South China morning post." Citizens' Radio broadcasters could face prosecution. Retrieved on 2008-04-21.
- ^ The standard. "The standard." Citizens' Radio defies law at Times Square. Retrieved on 2008-05-05.
- ^ Variety. "Variety." Hong Kong radio law ruled unconstitutional. Retrieved on 2008-05-26.
- ^ Mingpao. "Mingpao." 6議員民間廣播被控. Retrieved on 2008-05-26.
- ^ a b South China morning post. "South China morning post." Citizens' Radio activists appear in court. Retrieved on 2008-05-26.
