Police officers seized computers and other journalistic materials during a raid in the pro-democracy newspaper’s office.
The Hong Kong police on Thursday morning arrested the chief editor and four other senior executives of the Apple Daily newspaper under the national security law, AP reported. The newspaper is known for its strong pro-democracy stance and often criticises and condemns the Chinese and Hong Kong governments for tightening control over the city-state. Speaking to reporters, Hong Kong Security Secretary John Lee said that the arrests were made after the police conducted a raid at the office of Apple Daily, Reuters reported. In a first, the police seized journalistic materials under the new national security law. Apple Daily said that police officers also accessed journalists’ computers. “[Police] officers also targeted the offices of editorial managers and took away their computers and a number of documents and news materials,” Lam Man-chung, Executive Editor-in-Chief of Apple Daily said. Those arrested included Next Digital Limited Chief Executive Officer and Apple Daily publisher Cheung Kim-hung and Chief Operating Officer Royston Chow, as well as the paper’s Editor-in-Chief Ryan Law and Deputy Editors Chan Pui-man and Cheung Chi-wai.
