Editors of Hong Kong newspaper arrested under security law
Source: AP
By ZEN SOO
HONG KONG (AP) — Hong Kong police used a sweeping national security law Thursday to arrest five editors and executives of a pro-democracy newspaper on charges of colluding with foreign powers — the first time the legislation has been used against the press in yet another sign of an intensifying crackdown by Chinese authorities in the city long known for its freedoms.
Police said they had evidence that more than 30 articles published by Apple Daily played a “crucial part” in what they called a conspiracy with foreign countries to impose sanctions against China and Hong Kong.
Apple Daily said in a statement that the move left it “speechless” but vowed to continue its reporting. The newspaper has long been one of the most outspoken defenders of Hong Kong’s freedoms and in recent years has often criticized the Chinese and Hong Kong governments for walking back promises that the territory could retain those freedoms for 50 years after the former British colony was handed over to China in 1997.
The newspaper has thus found itself a frequent target. Apple Daily founder Jimmy Lai is currently serving a 20-month prison sentence after being convicted of playing a role in unauthorized protests in 2019, when Hongkongers took the streets in massive antigovernment demonstrations in response to a proposed extradition law that would have allowed suspects to stand trial in China. Protests grew to include calls for broader democratic freedoms, but the movement only appeared to harden Beijing’s resolve to limit civil liberties in the territory, including by imposing the national security law used in Thursday’s arrests.
Ryan Law, second from right, Apple Daily's chief editor, is arrested by police officers in Hong Kong Thursday, June 17, 2021. Hong Kong police on Thursday morning arrested the chief editor and four other senior executives of Apple Daily under the national security law on suspicion of collusion with a foreign country to endanger national security, according to local media reports. Local media, including the South China Morning Post and Apple Daily, reported Thursday that national security police arrested Apple Daily's chief editor Ryan Law. (AP Photo)
Read more: https://apnews.com/article/hong-kong-arrests-business-97e0fbed611073be258763dcf80c4b7f
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