Hong Kong Police Arrest Apple Every Day Editor Under China's National Security Law
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HONG KONG — Authorities shook at media outlets Hong Kong after police arrested the desirable editor of a popular daily newspaper and the metropolis' security chief warned of extreme punishment for anyone who uses information to challenge China's national security
More than 500 police officers on Thursday searched Apple's newsroom every day, located with the help of Beijing critic Jimmy Lai, and arrested 5 executives, including its editor-in-chief Ryan Legislations, who were taken away in handcuffs from their home. The police took computer systems and searched the tables, having purchased a court warrant to search and seize journalistic materials.
Police said the arrests are related to more than 30 unspecified Apple Daily articles published in 2019 that played a major role in a conspiracy to inspire sanctions abroad in opposition to Hong Kong and China.
John Lee, secretary of security for Hong Kong, informed journalists that the operation focused on acts that were not related to “common journalistic work”, but used the news as a device to threaten the protection of the entire country. He dispatched a much broader relaxation throughout the metropolis by warning individuals, including journalists, not to align themselves with the arrested executives and journalists.
, urging individuals to cut ties with them before it is too late. Some of these offenses can be punished with life imprisonment, he brought.
Police gathered in the Apple lobby daily at workplaces in Hong Kong On thursday
Freedom of the press and other civil liberties in Hong Kong are increasingly eroded beneath national security legislation, rights advocates and media observers say, as Beijing repeatedly makes clear it does not tolerate dissent and challenges to its power within the metropolis. The arrests on Thursday raised new questions about how journalists can report professional democracy companies and feedback from abroad that could be considered a violation of nationwide security legislations, which were imposed by China nearly 12 months ago, after months Anti-government protests in 2019 engulfed the former British colony.
The impact of police moves on the information business in general and even readers in Hong Kong are “extraordinarily serious,” said Yuen Chan, a senior lecturer
Self-censorship will worsen if journalists are unsure whether they are able to protect their sources.'”
The Beijing representative office in Hong Kong said in a press release that “press freedom is not enough for illegal activities”.
Journalist groups have been warning for years about diminished press freedom, citing an increase in self-censorship and the force of authorities. Consumers with links to the continent bought newspapers and television stations, some laying off journalists or reshaping information departments. The metropolis' public broadcaster, RTHK, is being increasingly undermined by the new administration following criticism from Beijing's professional supporters that it is too liberal.
The day-to-day running of Apple, a colorful newspaper with a broadsheet structure in the tabloid vogue, remained challenging. Based on 1995 using a multimillion-dollar costume by Lai, the newspaper criticized Beijing and openly supported the protest against professional democracy that circulated in 2019, which drew a historic number of individuals to the streets two years ago.
Mr. Lai has been a righteous target of the protection police across the country. He was arrested in August over a previous police raid on the newspaper, owned by the subsequently publicly listed Digital Ltd., and is in prison for participating in protests and awaiting trial for collusion expenses abroad. Last month, police in Hong Kong froze Lai's ownership, along with his majority stake in Apple, on a day-to-day basis.
The newspaper stood by its beliefs, angering professional figures in Beijing who claimed authorities should shut it down.
Steve Li, a senior police superintendent, told reporters that the 30 articles recognized by police offered ammunition to local or foreign international groups to impose sanctions. He warned different Apple employees every day not to cross any more lines, but did not respond to questions about whether the articles were news experiences or commentary, or a mix of both.
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The nationwide protection legislation was enacted in late June and some opposition groups have expressed fears that it could be applied retroactively, despite officials' assurances that it would not.
In addition to Mr. Legislations, others arrested on Thursday in response to Apple's day-to-day operations included Cheung Kim-hung and Royston Chow – respectively the government manager and chief operating officer of Subsequent Digital – as well as associate editor Chan Pui-man and an information director named Cheung Chi-wai. Their homes were also searched.
Police cordoned off the newsroom and employees were forced to register at makeshift desks, a steady stream of newspapers showed. Journalists who were already in the office were ordered to leave, and at least one police officer moved to the image looking for substances in an employee's work area, Apple said every day in a send via FB Mr. Li, the legitimate police officer, pointed out that the police had to appear on the computers to discover the evidence. Some 38 computer systems belonging to journalists were confiscated, the newspaper later brought up.
The police took their own details from the personnel who had simply arrived but prevented them from entering their workplaces, ordering them to leave or allowing them to enter the canteen. An Apple Daily reporter filmed the police search outside the building, peering into the newsroom through thick windows.
“Journalism is not a crime. We are outraged by the arrests made by the police these days,” the newspaper’s union noted in a statement. It introduced that the court order allowing the seizure of journalistic materials could undermine public trust in the information media and harm the newspaper's ability to obtain interviews and guidance.
Chris Yeung, president of the Journalists Association of Hong Kong, highlighted that the police operation began to spread concern among journalists and members of the general public.
“Americans will feel dangerous, uncomfortable talking to the media,” he mentioned, urging the government to provide additional details regarding the case.
Additionally, authorities obtained the equivalent of US $ 2.3 million from three related companies: Apple every day Ltd., Apple daily Printing Ltd. and ad web Ltd.
Even after the most recent arrests, Apple's diary remained defiant. In a letter to readers on the Internet, he highlighted: “we can move on.
