Indonesian Journalist Wounded in Hong Kong Demonstration
Jakarta. An Indonesian reporter was injured by a rubber bullet when she was reporting from a rally in Hong Kong on Sunday, the Foreign Affairs Ministry said.
"A female Indonesian citizen by the name of Veby Mega was shot by a rubber bullet near the eye when she was reporting from a demonstration in the Wan Chai area in Hong Kong on Sept. 19," Yudha Nugraha, the director of citizen protection and legal aid at the foreign ministry said on Sunday evening in Jakarta.
He said the Indonesian consulate in Hong Kong has reported the incident to Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi.
Indonesian consulate staff in Hong Kong have been assisting Veby in the hospital and have communicated with the Hong Kong authorities to ascertain the cause of the incident.
Veby has been working in Hong Kong for seven years as a freelance journalist, among others for Suara newspaper, a publication for the Indonesian diaspora in Hong Kong.
She was reporting live from Wan Chai on the newspaper's Facebook account when she got shot near the eye.
"Veby is now in stable condition and has been moved to the intensive ophthalmology unit. She will be examined again tomorrow [Monday]," Yudha said.
Pro-democracy activists staged rallies in Hong Kong on Sunday marking 17 weeks of protests against China’s efforts to tighten its grip in the autonomous territory.
Police tried to disperse the crowd using water cannon, tear gas and rubber bullets.
The Indonesian Consulate General in Hong Kong has urged all Indonesian citizens to stay away from the demonstrations.
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