Hong-Kong:
Hong Kong police raided the office of local media outlet Stand News and arrested six current and former employees on Wednesday for “inciting publishing”.
The suppression of the local press in Hong Kong has increased in the wake of the massive and often violent democracy protests two years ago and the subsequent imposition of a sweeping national security law.
More than 200 officers were deployed to search the Stand News office with court authorization to seize journalistic material, police said, confirming six arrests.
An AFP reporter watched as Patrick Lam, acting editor-in-chief of Stand News, was handcuffed and led into the office building.
Shortly before dawn, Stand News had broadcast live on Facebook that the National Security Police were at the door of Deputy Command Editor Ronson Chan.
The short video showed officers telling Chan they had an order to investigate allegations of “conspiracy to publish incendiary publications” – under a British colonial-era law.
Chan’s house was searched, but he was not arrested.
Stand News is the second Hong Kong media company to be targeted by authorities, after Apple Daily, which closed in June after its assets were frozen under the national security law.
Hong Kong authorities have repeatedly criticized Stand News, with security chief Chris Tang this month accusing the company of publishing “biased, smearing and demonizing” reports about prison conditions.
Police also arrested ex-editor Chung Pui-kuen and searched his home, local media reported.
According to local media, four former board members were also arrested, including Hong Kong pop star Denise Ho, lawyer Margaret Ng, Christine Fang and Chow Tat-chi.
The city has long served as a regional media hub, although it has fallen in the press freedom rankings in recent years as Beijing exerts more control over the city.
Exiled activist Nathan Law tweeted that the arrests illustrate the persecution by the authorities of journalists and media who “dare to challenge them and speak the truth”.
Sunny Cheung, a prominent campaigner currently seeking asylum in the United States, said Beijing is wiping out all room for opposition.
(This story was not edited by DailyExpertNews staff and was generated automatically from a syndicated feed.)