JAKARTA - Hong Kong police raids on a pro-democracy media organization and the arrests of seven people linked to it were aimed at sedition activity, not suppression of the media, the city government leader said Thursday.
About 200 police raided Stand News' offices on Wednesday, freezing its assets and arresting seven senior editors and former board members, for 'conspiring to publish an seditious publication'.
They are in police custody about 30 hours after their arrest, awaiting formal charges or release. Under Hong Kong law, police can detain suspects for a maximum of 48 hours.
The raids are the latest crackdown on media and dissent in general in the former British colony since China imposed tough national security laws on the city last year aimed at ending months of pro-democracy protests.
"This action has nothing to do with the so-called suppression of press freedom," Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam told reporters, citing Reuters December 30.
"Journalism is not seditious, but inflammatory activity cannot be condoned under the guise of reporting news," he continued.
Founded in 2014 as a non-profit organization, Stand News is Hong Kong's most prominent pro-democracy publication, after a national security investigation this year led to the closure of jailed tycoon Jimmy Lai's Apple Daily tabloid.
A total of seven people were arrested by Hong Kong police, including four former Stand News board members, former democratic legislator Margaret Ng, pop singers Denise Ho, Chow Tat-chi and Christine Fang, as well as former editor-in-chief Chung Pui-kuen and acting editor-in-chief Patrick Lam. Chung's wife, Chan Pui-man, who previously worked at Apple Daily, was re-arrested in prison.
Media advocacy groups, several Western governments, including Canada and Germany, and the United Nations Human Rights Office condemned the raids and arrests as a sign of the erosion of press freedom in the global financial hub.
Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called on Chinese and Hong Kong authorities to immediately release those arrested. Lam, referring to Blinken's call, said it would be against the rule of law.
Separately, China's Foreign Ministry Office in Hong Kong said support for press freedom was used as an excuse to destabilize the city.
"Those who engage in activities that endanger national security and undermine the rule of law and public order under the auspices of journalism are scapegoats for tarnishing press freedom and will be held accountable," they said in a statement.
To note, Stand News, an online publication, was shut down hours after the raid and all of its employees were laid off. The Stand News website cannot be accessed on Thursdays. The head of his bureau in London, Yeung Tin Shui, said on Facebook that his office had also been closed.
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