State police raided Hong Kong press kiosks to seize Apple Daily issue

In Hong Kong, on Friday morning, a raid took place on copies of the pro-democratic newspaper Apple Daily. This was after police raided the newsroom the day before, arresting five newspaper executives.

At many kiosks in the city, Hong Kong people line up for the newspaper, which has been published today in a considerably larger edition. 500 thousand copies were printed on Friday, compared to 80 thousand a day earlier.

The Apple Daily reappeared on the shelves on Friday with a message of resistance that is characteristic of the newspaper on the front page, which reads: “We must continue.’

The editors chose a simple front page with photos of the five arrested executives and a clear headline that read: “National Security police searched Apple, arrested five people, seized 44 hard drives.’

The newspaper and imprisoned owner Jimmy Lai have long been a thorn in Beijing’s side, for their unconditional support for the pro-democracy movement in the financial center and their scathing criticism of China’s authoritarian leaders.

Chief Editor Ryan Law and publisher Cheung Kim-hung have been arrested, reports the South China Morning Post. According to the newspaper, about 200 police officers entered the headquarters around 7: 00 a.m. local time, and the operation was over by 1: 30 p.m. The officers searched laptops and documents, among other things. The police said they were looking for evidence to incite foreign interference. The journalists were not allowed to enter the shop floor and had to register before they were allowed to enter the building.

The arrests show that Beijing is using the National Security Act to target dissent, according to British Foreign minister Dominic Raab. Press freedom is one of the rights that China has promised to protect in the treaty that China and the United Kingdom signed in 1984 on the transfer of Hong Kong to China in 1997, the administrator recalled. He called on the Chinese to respect that.

Nick Schramm is tech savvy with strong engineering education behind. His interest in sciences helps the whole WeeklyNewsReview stuff to keep informed about various topics of the modern technology.