Hong Kong: six people linked to news site arrested for "seditious publication"

Hong Kong authorities on Wednesday arrested at least six people linked to pro-democracy online media Stand News for "

", the latest episode in the crackdown on the local independent press by pro-Beijing authorities. The crackdown comes as the international community worries about the relentless takeover in Hong Kong since the 2019 pro-democracy protests. The Committee to Protect Journalists has denounced "

”. Police said they had arrested six people for "

”With a view to disseminating a“ seditious publication ”.

More than 200 police officers conducted searches at Stand News headquarters in Kwun Tong district and the homes of several media employees.

The police said they had been authorized by a court to "

".

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An AFP reporter saw the publication's editor-in-chief, Patrick Lam, being led into handcuffs inside the offices of Stand News.

According to local media reports, police also arrested former editor Chung Pui-kuen, as well as four former board members who resigned in June.

These include Cantonese pop star Denise Ho and lawyer and former Hong Kong Legislative Council member Margaret Ng.

The other two former members are Christine Fang and Chow Tat-chi.

Shortly before dawn, Stand News announced in a live Facebook video that police were at the doorstep of its deputy editor Ronson Chan.

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In the brief video, officers inform Ronson Chan that they have a warrant and that Ronson Chan had to stop filming.

Ronson Chan, who is also chairman of the Hong Kong Journalists Association, said his home was searched and police seized computer equipment from his home.

But he was not arrested.

“

,” he said.

"

."

Second targeted media

At least four other Stand News staff have seen their homes searched. Stand News, founded in 2014, was nominated in November for the Reporters Without Borders Press Freedom Prize. During the 2019 anti-government protests, several of its journalists had trouble with the police. In one famous episode, a media reporter filmed live the ultraviolet attack by a group of masked individuals against pro-democracy protesters in a metro station, and continued to film even as the attackers took to the streets. took it to her. Stand News has been the target in recent months of sharp criticism from the authorities. Hong Kong security official Chris Tang had recently accused him of releasing information "

”on the city's prisons.

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It is the second local newspaper company to find itself in the crosshairs of the authorities. In June, the pro-democracy Apple Daily shut down after its assets were frozen and its top executives were arrested under a drastic new national security law imposed by Beijing in July 2020. Several Hong Kong opponents who fled abroad condemned Wednesday's arrests. “

”tweeted opponent Nathan Law, in exile in the United Kingdom.

"

" said Brian Leung, representative of the movement based in the United States Hong Kong Democracy Council. .

The Hong Kong Journalists Association and the Foreign Correspondent Club, which represent local and foreign journalists respectively, said they were "

."