A government notice on Wednesday said authorities arrested six current and former senior staff members of “an online media company” in the morning for “conspiracy to publish seditious publications”.
“The arrested persons include three men and three women aged between 34 and 73. Searches are underway at their respective residences,” the statement said, without identifying the individuals or the company.
In a separate statement, the government said 200 National Security Police officers raided a news room in the Kun Tong area, confiscating journalistic material.
The Hong Kong Journalists’ Association (HKJA) soon confirmed that the stand was a news publication and listed the names of those arrested.
The city’s vibrant media landscape has faded since Beijing imposed a city-wide national security law in 2020, leading to the closure of pro-democracy outlet Apple Daily earlier this year.
Wednesday’s government notice cited charges that stemmed from a colonial-era crime ordinance, but the police involved in the stand news case are national security officers. Officials have yet to release further details about the allegations.
The HKJA said in a statement on Wednesday, “The Hong Kong Journalists Association is deeply concerned that police have repeatedly arrested senior members of the media and searched the offices of news organizations containing large amounts of journalistic material within a year. have taken.” Since 1997 the de facto constitution of the city government “to protect the freedom of the press in accordance with the Basic Law”.
The association said Ronson Chan Ron-sing, deputy assignment editor of Stand News and president of the HKJA, was also “taken in by the police.”
Stand News posted a video of police arriving at Chan’s house for a raid on Wednesday morning. Chan later told local media in Hong Kong that he had not been arrested.
‘the stakes are high’
Despite facing criticism from Hong Kong authorities and Chinese state media, the HKJA has continued to speak in defense of press freedom.
The latest police action came hours after the HKJA hosted its annual dinner on Tuesday, which was delayed by more than a year due to coronavirus restrictions.
“We know the stakes are high, but press freedom has been the backbone of Hong Kong’s success,” Chan said in a speech at the dinner. “Hong Kong will always need the truth as well as journalists. No matter how difficult the road ahead, the association will strive to never fail.”
Cantonese pop star and prominent pro-democracy activist Dennis Ho was among the six arrested. She was arrested at her home at 6 a.m., her assistant, who asked not to be named, confirmed to CNN Business.
Ho was formerly on the board of directors of Stand News. Police spent more than two hours at the singer’s home and confiscated her ID card and passport, along with her phone and computer, her assistant told CNN Business.
Others arrested include Margaret Ng, a former pro-democracy MP and chief barrister, former Stand News editor-in-chief Chung Pui-kuen and acting editor-in-chief Patrick Lam, according to the HKJA.
At the Stand News office, police collected about 30 boxes of “evidence,” a police press officer on the site told CNN Business.
The raid on Stand News comes a day after Apple Daily founder Jimmy Lai was jailed for “manufacturing and distributing seditious publications”.
A ‘shock wave through Hong Kong’
Speaking at the HKJA’s annual dinner on Tuesday, Chan described the arrests of Lai and his associates and the subsequent shuttering of Apple Daily as a “shockwave in Hong Kong” that “had a major impact on news workers who are still in the middle of nowhere.” Struggling at the front. Days.”
Chan also acknowledged the increasing difficulty for the HKJA to fill positions on its executive committee, due to concerns about his personal safety and career prospects.
“Indeed, the position of vice president is still vacant and will remain so until November,” Chan said.
The Foreign Correspondents’ Club in Hong Kong said in a statement on Wednesday that it was “deeply concerned” about the arrests linked to Stand News.
“These actions are another blow to press freedom in Hong Kong and will continue to cool the media environment in the city after a difficult year for the city’s news outlets,” it said.
The National Security Act was drafted in Beijing and promulgated in Hong Kong in June 2020. The law criminalized acts of secession, subversion, terrorism, and collusion with foreign forces to endanger national security – with a maximum sentence of life imprisonment for all four.
Since the law’s enactment, the city’s pro-democracy camp has been virtually wiped out, with prominent figures either in prison or in exile abroad. A range of civic groups have disbanded, and more recently, many universities have removed statues promoting democracy or commemorating the overnight Tiananmen Square massacre, sparking concerns about freedom on campuses .
The Hong Kong government has repeatedly denied criticism that the law stifled freedoms, claiming instead that it has restored order in the city after the 2019 protest movement.
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