Police raid as Apple Daily editor, directors arrested

National security police arrested the editor and four other directors of Apple Daily on Thursday morning and raided the pro-democracy media group’s offices in Tseung Kwan O for the second time in a year to execute a warrant.

The force confirmed it had conducted a raid at a “media company in Tseung Kwan O” and arrested four men and a woman on suspicion of colluding with a foreign country or with external elements to endanger national security.

Police said the warrant covered “the power of searching and seizure of journalistic materials”.

The five were detained for investigation and their homes were searched, the police said.

Apple Daily said that its editor-in-chief, Ryan Law was among those arrested, along with deputy editor Chan Pui-man and chief executive editor Cheung Chi-wai.

It said the chief executive of parent company, Next Digital, Cheung Kim-hung, and the company’s chief operating officer, Chow Tat-kuen, were also arrested.

Apple Daily reported that Law was taken to the offices at 9.30am with his hands cuffed behind his back. Cheung Kim-hung was also led into the building at about 10am, also with his hands cuffed behind his back.

Reports say more than 200 police entered Apple Daily’s premises around 7am on Thursday. A live stream of the raid on Apple Daily’s social media showed large numbers of officers entering the building, while others used cones to block part of the road outside.

Apple Daily reporters said the police restricted access to some areas of the building. Some reporters said officers stopped staff from taking photographs inside or getting their equipment.

The offices were previously raided in August last year.

The newspaper’s founder, Jimmy Lai, is serving a jail sentence for taking part in unauthorised assemblies in 2019. His holdings in the company have been frozen on national security grounds.

Next Digital announced the suspension of trading in its shares ahead of the market opening on Thursday.
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Last updated: 2021-06-17 HKT 10:14