Hong Kong authorities arrested six current and former members of the independent local media News stand, Wednesday, December 29, accusing them of “conspiracy for seditious publication” under a law dating from the colonial era. The crackdown comes as the international community worries about press freedom in Hong Kong since the takeover led by Beijing after the 2019 protests.
More than 200 police officers were mobilized to search the headquarters of News stand in Kwun Tong district and at the homes of those arrested, authorities said, adding that the police had been authorized by a court to seize journalistic material. An AFP journalist saw the publication’s editor-in-chief, Patrick Lam, being taken in handcuffs into the media’s offices.
Shortly before dawn, News stand announced live on Facebook that police were at the door of deputy editor Ronson Chan. In this brief video, the officers inform the latter that they are in possession of a court warrant to investigate the charges of seditious publication. They ask Ronson Chan, also president of the Hong Kong Journalists Association, to stop filming. His home was searched but he was not arrested.
Cantonese pop star Denise Ho, who served on the board of directors of News stand but resigned in June, was also arrested, according to her Facebook page. As are Margaret Ng, lawyer and former member of the Local Legislative Council, and Chung Pui-kuen, former editor-in-chief of News stand, according to local media. The two other people arrested are two former members of the board of directors, Chow Tat-chi and Christine Fang.
News stand has been the target in recent months of sharp criticism from the Hong Kong authorities. The territory’s security official, Chris Tang, accused him in early December of releasing information “biased, defamatory and demonized” on living conditions in prisons. “The Chinese Communist Party continues to sue journalists and media who dare to contradict it and tell the truth.”, tweeted opponent Nathan Law, in exile in the United Kingdom.
When free press is the focal point of human rights discussion this year, CCP keeps charging journalists and media that dare to challenge them and speak the truth. Among many others, the arrests of Denise Ho, Margaret Ng are prime examples. RELEASE THEM! Https: //t.co/Sj6d4ZhOFE
– Nathan Law 羅冠聰 (@nathanlawkc) December 29, 2021
It is the second local newspaper company to find itself in the crosshairs of the authorities. In June, the pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily had closed after the freezing of its assets and the arrest of its main leaders under a drastic new law on national security imposed by Beijing in July 2020. This law is not retroactive, the Hong Kong authorities sometimes also invoke a British colonial rule imposed “sedition” that had gone unheeded for decades to suppress dissent.