Citizens' Radio

Citizens' Radio 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 7:00 pm–12:00 pm from Monday to Friday. The programmes can be heard in parts of Hong Kong Island, most of Kowloon, and on the Internet.

Citizens' Radio
Programming
Language(s)Cantonese
History
First air date
3 October 2005 (2005-10-03)
Citizens' Radio
Traditional Chinese民間電台

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 1 July marches and Vindicate 4 June and Relay Torch in the past.

Tsang has submitted an application for a sound broadcasting licence to the Broadcasting 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. The station has been repeatedly raided by the Telecommunications Authority since but it kept on broadcasting as a form of civil disobedience.

Citizens' Radio broadcast incident

Event

On 25 May 2007 Szeto Wah was speaking in a Mong Kok pedestrianised street hosted by Citizen's Radio. The topic of the programme involved the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989.[1]

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.

Selective prosecution

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 and legislator Choy So-yuk of the pro-Beijing Democratic Alliance for the Betterment of Hong Kong. They were not charged.[1][2] 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 licence as long as it wishes. It is not in accordance with the rule of law."[3]

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]

Post charges broadcasts
  • On 20 April 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 4 May 2008 another public broadcast was made at Times Square.[7]

Court
  • On 8 Jan 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 23 May 2008 six lawmakers and five democracy activists appeared in Eastern district court. The case was adjourned until 15 October 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League of Social Democrats
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 10 Sept 2008 the rulings by magistrate Douglas Yau will be heard in the Court of Appeal.[10]
  • On 12 Dec 2008 the HK government won its appeal against the dismissal of charges against Citizens' Radio activists for broadcasting without a licence.[11]

Raid

The Office of the Telecommunications Authority (OFTA) mounted an enforcement operation against Citizens' Radio and raided the radio equipment on 19 December 2008.[12] Activist Tsang Kin-shing said the equipment was worth HK$20,000 to HK$30,000.[13]

References
  1. The Standard. "Comment Archived 27 January 2008 at the Wayback Machine." Szeto faces Citizens' Radio rap. Retrieved 30 December 2007.
  2. Alliance.org.hk. ""Szeto Wah under Prosecution" Archived 7 April 2008 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 29 December 2007.
  3. Taipeitimes. ""Hong Kong station defies ban." Retrieved 26 May 2008.
  4. South China morning post. "Controversies appear to shake public confidence in two ministers." Retrieved 29 December 2007.
  5. HKreporter. ""Szeto faces citizen's radio rap." Retrieved 30 December 2007.
  6. South China morning post. "Citizens' Radio broadcasters could face prosecution." Retrieved 21 April 2008.
  7. The Standard. ""Citizens' Radio defies law at Times Square." Archived 22 May 2011 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved on 5 May 2008.
  8. Variety. ""Hong Kong radio law ruled unconstitutional." Retrieved 26 May 2008.
  9. Citizens Radio ""Political News" Retrieved 22 Sep 2019.
  10. South China morning post. "Citizens' Radio activists appear in court." Retrieved 22 Sep 2019.
  11. South China Morning Post. 28 December 2008. "Citizens' Radio to fight ruling." Retrieved on 5 January 2009.
  12. Chinatechnews. ""Enforcement Action Against Suspected Illegal Radio Broadcasting In Hong Kong." Retrieved on 5 January 2009.
  13. South China Morning Post. 20 December 2008." Ofta raids Citizens' Radio." Retrieved on 5 January 2009.
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