![]() ![]() The seven were arrested on Wednesday under a crime ordinance that dates from Hong Kong’s days as a British colony before 1997, when it was returned to China with a promise from Beijing that it would keep Western-style freedoms for 50 years. Apply Daily was forced to cease operations earlier this year after its publisher, Jimmy Lai, and top editors were arrested and its assets frozen. Ho was released from police custody on Thursday afternoon.Ĭhan Pui-man, a former editor at the pro-democracy Apple Daily newspaper and Chung’s wife, was also arrested. ![]() They include four former Stand News board members, including Ho and former lawmaker Margaret Ng. The others have been detained for further questioning. Lam was not present in court because he was in the hospital. The cases were brought to West Kowloon court on Thursday, police said in a statement. ![]() Police also said they would prosecute the company for sedition. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken called on Hong Kong authorities to release the detainees, and Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs Melanie Joly said her country was deeply concerned about the arrests, which included singer Denise Ho, a Canadian citizen and activist.Īccording to a charge sheet, national security police filed one count each of conspiracy to publish a seditious publication against Chung Pui-kuen and Patrick Lam, former editors at Stand News. Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam defended the raid on Stand News amid a wider crackdown on dissent in the semi-autonomous city, telling reporters that “inciting other people … could not be condoned under the guise of news reporting.” HONG KONG (AP) - Two former editors from a Hong Kong online pro-democracy news outlet were charged with sedition and denied bail Thursday, a day after one of the last openly critical voices in the city said it would cease operations following a police raid on its office and seven arrests. Please look at the time stamp on the story to see when it was last updated. The Stand News bureau in an industrial building in the Kwun Tong working class district was partially sealed off by dozens of police, according to a Reuters reporter at the scene.Ī police media liaison officer said entry to the office would not be permitted given an "ongoing operation." He declined to give further details.įour police vans were parked downstairs as dozens of police milled around the lobby.This is an archived article and the information in the article may be outdated. It did not name those arrested, in line with its usual practice. Police said in a separate statement that they had arrested three men and three women, ages 34 to 73, and that searches of their homes were underway. ![]() Your phone is obstructing our work," an officer is seen saying. This is the court warrant and this is my warrant card. "The charge was conspiracy to publish seditious publications. Stand News posted a video of police arriving at the residence of Ronson Chan, its deputy assignment editor who is also the head of the Hong Kong Journalists Association. Police officers guard the building of Stand News' office in Hong Kong, Dec. Hong Kong broadcaster TVB said the six people arrested on Wednesday included former board members Margaret Ng, a former democratic legislator, and Denise Ho, a pop singer, as well as acting chief editor Patrick Lam. In June, hundreds of police raided the premises of the pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily, arresting executives for alleged "collusion with a foreign country." The newspaper subsequently shut down. Critics say the legislation is a tool to quash dissent. Sedition is not a crime under the sweeping national security law imposed on the city by Beijing in June 2020.īut recent court judgments have freed authorities to use powers conferred by the new legislation to deploy previously seldom-used colonial era laws, including the Crime Ordinance, which covers sedition.Īuthorities say the national security law has restored order after often-violent pro-democracy unrest in 2019 and that it does not curb rights and freedoms. Police stand guard outside the Stand News office after six people were arrested "for conspiracy to publish seditious publication," according to Hong Kong's Police National Security Department, in Hong Kong, Dec. ![]()
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