The media had to announce its closure on Wednesday itself, but not by choice.
Seven people at Stand News, including the director himself, were arrested within days.
Stand News was also targeted by a series of searches, which led to the seizure of almost all of the media's assets, namely documents, telephones, computers and 500,000 Hong Kong dollars (more than 56,000 euros).
The reason for this brutal raid? "Seditious publications" between July 2020 and November 2021. Steve Li, the chief of the national security police in Hong Kong, explains at a press conference: "Our investigation showed that the aforementioned press organ is suspected of having, between July 2020 - that is to say after the adoption of the National Security Law - and November 2021, continuously published a number of seditious articles with the aim of achieving the objectives following, in particular to arouse hatred or contempt for the Hong Kong government and Hong Kong justice, to arouse the disaffection of residents,inciting people to violence or advising disobedience of the law "Examples of" seditious "publications given by the police are" [having] described protesters in Hong Kong as "missing" or "raped" ".
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The Committee to Protect Journalists denounced "an open attack on the already ragged press freedom in Hong Kong."
According to this same organization, 2021 would be the first year in which Hong Kong journalists have been imprisoned because of their work (eight people identified).
