Accused Of Endangering National Security, Hong Kong Police Arrest Five Newspaper Executives Eksekutif

Hong Kong newspaper office Apple Daily. (Wikimedia Commons/Prosperity Horizons)

JAKARTA - Hong Kong police arrested five executives of the pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily on Thursday local time with warrants to seize journalistic material for the first time, as well as a further blow to businessman, newspaper owner and current staunch Beijing critic Jimmy Lai. detained.

The warrant raises concerns over press freedom in Hong Kong. Meanwhile, police called for the confiscation of materials to gather evidence in cases involving the New National Security Law that Beijing enacted last year.

"This is a blatant attack on the editorial side of Apple Daily. They arrested the editor. They arrested the top editors," said Mark Simon, launching Reuters on Thursday, June 17.

Hong Kong police said in a statement that five directors of a company had been arrested on suspicion of colluding with a foreign country, or with external elements endangering national security.

During the search conducted in Tesung Kwan O District, the police stated that the warrants they brought had the power to search and confiscate journalistic materials.

Separately, Apple Daily said its five executives, including Editor-in-Chief Ryan Law, Chief Executive Officer Cheung Kim-hung, Chief Operating Officer Chow Tat-kuen, Deputy Editor-in-Chief Chan Puiman and Chief Executive Editor Cheung Chi-wai had all been arrested in the morning raid. .

The newspaper said around 100 police arrived at their office and surrounded the area at around 7:30 am local time. Images published by Apple Daily show police sitting at reporters' desks and using their computers. Journalists are prohibited from accessing certain floors or obtaining their equipment or notebooks during the search

Chief editor Law was seen walking handcuffed, flanked by police officers. Apple Daily told reporters in a text message seen by Reuters that they were temporarily working outside the building.

The move is the latest blow to Apple Daily, after authorities last month ordered imprisoned tycoon Jimmy Lai's stake in Next Digital, the newspaper's publisher, frozen.

"It's not up to us. It's up to them. There are 100 police officers in our newsroom. They decide, not us," Simon said when asked how long Apple Daily could last.

Apple Daily is a tabloid containing pro-democracy discourse, celebrity gossip and investigations, popular and popular in Hong Kong. This is the second time police have raided Apple Daily headquarters, after 200 officers conducted searches to arrest Lai last year.

To note, Lai has been detained since last December after his bail application was rejected by the New Security Law and was sentenced to several sentences for his links to pro-democracy activities.