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The Hong Kong authorities detained several journalists and executives of the pro-democracy media outlet, Stand News, on December 29, whom they accused of spreading alleged “seditious publications.” As a result, the digital medium announced that it will stop operating.
The Chinese government deals another blow to the press in Hong Kong. The digital newspaper ‘Stand News’ announced its closure after around 200 police officers broke into the newsroom and detained at least seven of its editors and former collaborators
Among those arrested are several high-ranking officials, such as the editor-in-chief of ‘Stand News’, Patrick Lam, who was taken in handcuffs from the building where the digital newspaper operated, according to AFP.
In addition, the director of the medium, Lam Shiu-tung; his predecessor, Chung Pui-kuen, who left office last November; and Pop star and activist Denise Ho Wan, a former board member and one of the most recognizable faces of Hong Kong dissent.
The affected media outlet reported that the police confiscated materials and documents, after stating that they had a court order to seize relevant journalistic content, under a national security law enacted last year.
BREAKING: Hong Kong’s pro-democracy Stand News online media outlet says it is ceasing operations following a police raid and arrests of current and former editors and board members. https://t.co/221M88kXhg
– The Associated Press (@AP) December 29, 2021
Hours earlier, the website reported that dozens of agents were conducting raids on the homes of various newspaper workers. Including the home of the president of the Hong Kong Journalists Association, Ronson Chan.
Chan, who is also the deputy editor of “Stand News,” said the police confiscated his computer, mobile phone, tablet, press pass and bank records.
All those arrested were placed under the disposition of the authorities for alleged “conspiracy to spread seditious publications,” an official statement said.
His arrest also came under a criminal ordinance dating back to Hong Kong’s colonial days, prior to 1997, when the territory was returned to China by the United Kingdom.
Those affected could face up to two years in prison and a fine of HK $ 5,000.
Second media closed on charges of sedition
After the closure of the newspaper “Apple Daily” last June, this is the second media outlet closed and facing charges of sedition, on the island that has seen increased control by the Chinese government in recent years.
Jimmy Lai and other editors of the Apple Daily were also arrested and their assets were frozen, forcing that outlet to cease operations.
The digital newspaper hit on December 29 said in a statement that its website and social networks will no longer be updated and will be eliminated. It also stated that all of its employees have been fired.
In a press conference, Li Kwai-wah, chief superintendent of the National Police Department of Security, said that all detainees will be held accountable for their actions, even if they have already resigned from ‘Stand News’.
“We are not targeting reporters, not the media, we are only targeting national security crimes,” Li Kwai-wah said. “If you just report, I don’t think this is a problem.”
Hundreds of #HongKong national security police raided the office of online pro-democracy media outlet Stand News on Wednesday and arrested six people, including senior staff, for “conspiracy to publish seditious publications.”
France 24’s @ofarry reports ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/xy6Pabuz5J
– FRANCE 24 English (@ France24_en) December 29, 2021
Yet these arrests come as authorities crack down on dissent on the semi-autonomous island, a move that Benedict Rogers, co-founder and CEO of the non-governmental organization Hong Kong Watch, called “nothing short of an all-out assault. to press freedom in Hong Kong “.
“The Hong Kong Journalists Association is deeply concerned that the Police have repeatedly arrested senior members of the media and searched the offices of news organizations containing large amounts of journalistic material in one year,” the HKJA said in a statement, for its acronym in English.
Wednesday’s arrests also followed the removal of sculptures and other artwork from college campuses last week. These were works that supported democracy and remembered the victims of China’s crackdown on democracy protesters in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square in 1989.
With Reuters, AP and EFE
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