Band Clare Jim and Sara Cheng
HONG KONG, December 30 (Reuters) – A Hong Kong police raid on a pro-democracy media organization and the arrest of seven people linked to it were aimed at seditious activity, not media repression, the city’s prime minister said on Thursday.
About 200 police officers raided the offices of Stand News on Wednesday, froze its assets and arrested the seven current and former editors and former board members, for “conspiracy to publish seditious publications”.
They were in custody some 30 hours after their arrest, awaiting formal charges or release. Under Hong Kong law, police can detain suspects for up to 48 hours.
The raid was the latest crackdown on the media and dissent in general in the former British colony since China imposed a tough national security law in the city last year aimed at ending months of protests pro-democracy.
“These actions have nothing to do with the so-called suppression of press freedom,” Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam told reporters.
“Journalism is not seditious…but seditious activity cannot be tolerated under the guise of reporting.”
Founded in 2014 as a non-profit organization, Stand News was the most prominent pro-democracy publication in Hong Kong after a national security investigation led to the closure of jailed tycoon Jimmy’s Apple Daily tabloid this year. Lay.
Stand News, an online publication, closed hours after the raid and all of its employees were fired.
The Stand News website was not accessible on Thursday. Its London bureau chief, Yeung Tin Shui, said on Facebook that his office had also closed.
The seven people arrested included four former Stand News board members – former Democratic lawmaker Margaret Ng, pop singer Denise Ho, Chow Tat-chi and Christine Fang – as well as former editor Chung Pui- kuen and acting editor Patrick Lam. Chung’s wife, Chan Pui-man, formerly of Apple Daily, was arrested again in prison.
Media advocacy groups, some Western governments including Canada and Germany, and the United Nations Human Rights Office condemned the raid and arrests as a sign of erosion of press freedom in the global financial center.
Hong Kong returned to Chinese rule in 1997 with the promise that many individual rights, including a free press, would be protected.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called on Chinese and Hong Kong authorities to immediately release those arrested.
Lam, referring to Blinken’s appeal, said it would violate the rule of law.
The Hong Kong office of China’s foreign ministry said support for press freedom was being used as an excuse to disrupt stability in the city.
“Those who engage in activities that endanger national security and undermine the rule of law and public order under the guise of journalism are the black sheep that tarnish press freedom and will be held accountable. responsible,” he said in a statement.
(written by Marius Zaharia; edited by Christian Schmollinger, Robert Birsel)
((marius.zaharia@thomsonreuters.com; +852 2843 6358;))
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