Hong Kong | Police arrested six people in Hong Kong in a raid on pro-democracy media facilities

Hong Kong police have arrested six people after a surprise inspection of the Stand News office, say The Guardian and news agency Reuters.

The current editor-in-chief of the online publication was arrested Patrick Lam as well as the former editor-in-chief and former members of the board. Among them are democracy activists Margaret Ng and Denise Howho have previously sat on the board of the publication.

Police say detainees are suspected of “anti-state publishing”.

Hong Kong police say in a statement that they have seized and investigated the journalistic material in the editorial office. More than 200 police officers, some of them in civilian clothes, took part in the operation on the media premises. Searches of suppliers’ homes have also been carried out.

Stand News is one of Hong Kong’s most prominent remaining independent and pro-democracy journalistic publications.

The Hong Kong administration has repeatedly criticized Stand News. According to the news agency AFP, director of security Chris Tang comments that Stand News’s report on the Hong Kong prison system is “biased, blackmailing and demonizing”.

Well-known Apple Daily ceased operations last summer due to pressure from the Hong Kong administration and the freezing of its publishing company funds. There were also raids on the premises of Apple Daily and a media leader Jimmy Lai was arrested.

Read more: Jimmy Lai, one of Hong Kong’s most prominent pro-democracy activists, receives more than a year in prison

Pro-democracy pressure from the media has raised international concerns about the state of freedom of expression in Hong Kong.

Representative of the International Reporters Without Borders East Asia Cedric Alviani commented on The Guardian ‘s searches for editorials as a clear attack on press freedom.

“It is clear from the Stand News case that the goal of the Hong Kong leadership is to get rid of all the media that does not support the official narrative of introducing the same level of censorship in Hong Kong as in mainland China,” he said.