FCC defends allegation police are intimidating reporters covering Occupy protests

The Foreign Correspondents' Club of Hong Kong last night defended its decision to release a statement that suggested police were threatening reporters covering the protests.

On Friday night, only hours after journalists were caught between police and protesters in violent clashes, the FCC released a statement condemning police for the arrest of an American photojournalist, Paula Bronstein, and alleged threats to other reporters.

The club received about a dozen responses to the statement yesterday, several criticising it. One critic said: "It seems that you are condoning Ms Bronstein's illegal acts and are apparently advocating that journalists should be above the law. However, they are not."

Club president Jitendra Joshi stood by the release. "We have every right to be concerned about signs that some police officers have been trying to intimidate journalists covering the protests, and to speak out about it."

Joshi said Bronstein jumped onto the bonnet of a car because she felt "physically threatened".

He added: "We thought she didn't deserve to be arrested for that, or to be detained all night."