FCCHK urges police to step up search for the mastermind behind 2014 attack on Kevin Lau

FCCHK urges police to step up search for the mastermind behind 2014 attack on Kevin Lau

Two years ago today, veteran journalist Kevin Lau was viciously attacked in broad daylight on the streets of Hong Kong. The former Ming Pao editor-in-chief was hospitalized for nearly five months with severe back and leg injuries and still requires regular physiotherapy.
In August last year, two men were jailed for 19 years for what High Court Judge Esther Toh described as a “cold blooded,” “senseless and brutal” attack on Mr Lau.
The court heard that the two men had been offered HK$100,000 each to “teach Lau a lesson”, but that they had consistently refused to reveal who had hired them.
At the time of the trial last year, Mr Lau and many other media professionals in Hong Kong urged the police to continue their investigation into who ordered the attack and to spare no effort in bringing that person to justice.
“Only then will the shadow cast on journalists by this violent attack be lifted. And the public will regain their confidence in press freedom,” Mr Lau said on 12 August 2015.
Today, the Foreign Correspondents’ Club, Hong Kong, reiterates that demand and asks that the Hong Kong police make public any progress it has made so far in the investigation.
It is essential for the continued freedom of the press in Hong Kong as well the public’s confidence in the rule of law that the mastermind behind the attack on Mr Lau is eventually brought to justice.

Press Freedom Committee
Published on
February 26, 2016