Hong Kong-based democracy-defender online media Stand News announced its closure on Wednesday after being targeted by searches and seven arrests for “seditious publication,” the latest episode in the crackdown on the local press by authorities loyal to Beijing.
The crackdown comes as the international community worries about the relentless recovery in hand in Hong Kong since the 2019 democracy protests.
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) denounced “an open attack on the already ragged press freedom in Hong Kong” and Amnesty International accused “the authorities of instrumentalizing Hong Kong law”.
Hong Kong National Security Police Chief Steve Li said Stand News was accused of posting “seditious” articles and blog posts between July 2020 and November 2021.
“They described protesters in Hong Kong as ‘missing’ or ‘raped’… These are vicious allegations with no factual basis,” Li said.
He denied that the police attack the media, assuring that publications writing unbiased articles would not have any problems.
At midday on Wednesday, police were seen pulling out Stand News boxes. According to Li, computers, phones, documents and 500,000 Hong Kong dollars (82,500 Canadian dollars) in cash were seized.
In addition, assets valued at HK $ 61 million belonging to Stand News have been frozen, he added.
More than 200 agents raided the headquarters of Stand News and the homes of several of its employees on Wednesday.
An AFP reporter saw the publication’s editor-in-chief, Patrick Lam, being taken in handcuffs into the offices of Stand News.
According to local media, police also arrested ex-editor Chung Pui-kuen and four ex-board members who resigned in June, including Cantonese pop star Denise Ho, the lawyer and former member of the Hong Kong Legislative Council Margaret Ng as well as the former journalist of theApple Daily Chan Pui-man, wife of Mr. Chung.
Mr. Li did not rule out further arrests, as some wanted persons are not currently in Hong Kong territory.
Stand News deputy editor Ronson Chan, also chairman of the Hong Kong Journalists Association, said his home was searched and computer equipment was seized. But he was not arrested.
“Due to the current situation, Stand News will cease its activity immediately and will stop updating its site. [Internet] and all its social networks, ”the publication announced. Stand News also reported that all of its staff have been laid off, that its editor, Patrick Lam, has resigned and that the website will be taken offline soon.
“Stand News was editorial independent and dedicated to protecting core Hong Kong values, such as democracy, human rights, liberty, the rule of law and justice,” the outlet added. in 2014 and nominated in November for the Reporters Without Borders (RSF) Press Freedom Prize.
Second targeted media
John Lee, deputy Hong Kong chief executive Carrie Lam, said those arrested were “evil elements.” […] abusing their functions […] media workers ”.
During the 2019 protests, several Stand News journalists had trouble with the police.
In a famous episode, one of his reporters had filmed live the ultraviolet attack carried out by a group of masked individuals against demonstrators for democracy in a metro station, continuing to film as the attackers attacked she.
Stand News has been the target in recent months of sharp criticism from the authorities.
It is the second local media silenced by the authorities. In June, the newspaper defending democracy Apple Daily had closed after its assets were frozen and its top executives were arrested under a sweeping new national security law imposed by Beijing in July 2020.
Several Hong Kong opponents who fled abroad condemned Wednesday’s arrests.
“The Chinese Communist Party continues to pursue journalists and media who dare to contradict it and speak the truth,” said opponent Nathan Law, in exile in the United Kingdom, on Twitter.
“Stand News represents one of the last vestiges of independent journalism in Hong Kong and we are not sure whether it can survive this repression,” said Brian Leung, a representative of the Hong Kong Democracy Council movement, whose headquarters are is in the United States.
The Hong Kong Journalists Association and the Foreign Correspondent Club, which represent local and foreign journalists respectively, said they were “deeply concerned.”
European Union diplomacy spokesman Peter Stano denounced a “further deterioration of press freedom” in Hong Kong.
These “searches […] show once again that the law on national security and other provisions are applied arbitrarily and selectively to fight against critical voices, ”said the German Foreign Ministry.