{"id":231927,"date":"2021-06-17T15:06:06","date_gmt":"2021-06-17T22:06:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/?p=231927"},"modified":"2022-09-09T18:13:23","modified_gmt":"2022-09-10T01:13:23","slug":"apple-dailys-headquarters-raided-executives-arrested-computers-seized","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/2021\/06\/apple-dailys-headquarters-raided-executives-arrested-computers-seized\/","title":{"rendered":"Apple Daily’s Headquarters Raided, Executives Arrested, Computers Seized"},"content":{"rendered":"

Apple Daily struck a defiant note<\/a> after Hong Kong police raided its headquarters, arrested its executives, froze its bank accounts, and seized its journalists\u2019 computers: \u201c[we will] press on till the end to see the arrival of dawn.\u201d Early on Thursday morning, hundreds of police officers entered Apple Daily\u2019s headquarters and arrested the company\u2019s CEO, COO, and leading editors, notably Ryan Law, on charges of colluding with foreign powers and using journalism as \u201ca tool to endanger national security.\u201d The sweeping arrests follow a long pressure campaign against the paper and its leaders since the passage of the National Security Law last year. In August 2020, Apple Daily\u2019s headquarters were raided by police<\/a> and the paper\u2019s owner, Jimmy Lai, was arrested on suspicion of \u201ccolluding with foreign forces.\u201d Lai potentially faces life in prison<\/a> for national security crimes and has already been convicted on lesser charges of illegal assembly<\/a> for leading a peaceful march in 2019. In May 2021, a reporter at Apple Daily told Su Xinqi of the AFP<\/a>, \u201cThe morale is rather bad\u2026 It feels like something is approaching us.\u201d The long-dreaded moment has arrived. At The New York Times, Austin Ramzy and Tiffany May covered the details of the raid and its implications for Hong Kong\u2019s once independent media scene<\/strong><\/a>:<\/p>\n

The raid and new restrictions were the most aggressive use yet of Hong Kong\u2019s sweeping national security law, imposed last year by Beijing, against a media outlet, and could put the newspaper\u2019s survival in question. The operation was a sharp escalation in the authorities\u2019 intensifying frontal assault on media outlets in Hong Kong, a former British colony once known for its vibrant media scene and broad free-speech protections.<\/p>\n

[\u2026] Apple Daily continued to report on the raid even as police officers declared the newsroom a crime scene. When police officers prevented the reporters from livestreaming the raid from inside the office and forced them to leave, the paper set up a camera on the building\u2019s roof that watched the operation from a distance. Once they were allowed to return to their seats, reporters whose desktop computers had been seized wrote articles on their mobile phones instead.<\/p>\n

[\u2026] \u201cApple Daily vows to carry on and publish as usual,\u201d one headline read. The paper said it would print 500,000 copies on Friday, several times its average daily circulation of about 90,000.<\/p>\n

[\u2026] But the newspaper acknowledged its fate was out of its hands. \u201cIn today\u2019s Hong Kong, we are unfamiliar and speechless,\u201d the Apple Daily said in a letter to its readers, posted on its website. \u201cIt seems that we are powerless to deal with it, and it is difficult to prevent the regime from doing whatever it wants.\u201d [Source<\/strong><\/a>]<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

On Twitter, journalists shared images and videos of the raid and its aftermath:<\/p>\n

\n

Roads to Next Digital Bldg blocked by police pic.twitter.com\/ycRVlwfcIr<\/a><\/p>\n

— Galileo Cheng (@galileocheng) June 16, 2021<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n