Team News Riveting
The police crackdown on Apple Daily would not dither the spirit of its editorial staff that vowed to bring out the newspaper on Sunday.
A day before, police arrested five executives of the newspaper before over five hundred Hong Kong police officers scanned through reporters’ computers and notebooks at pro-democracy tabloid on Thursday, the first case in which authorities have cited media articles as potentially violating the national security law.
The raid is the latest blow to media tycoon Jimmy Lai, the tabloid’s owner and a staunch Beijing critic, whose assets have been frozen under the security law and who is serving prison sentences for taking part in illegal assemblies.
An Apple Daily executive released on bail on Saturday said that the newspaper would be published as usual on Sunday, after two of her colleagues charged with crimes endangering national security were denied bail in court and remanded in custody.
Associate publisher Chan Pui-man said that she was disappointed and sad that Next Digital chief executive officer Cheung Kim-hung and Apple Daily editor-in-chief Ryan Law were denied bail at Saturday’s hearing. She hoped that they could submit an appeal as soon as possible, or else make a fresh bail application at the next hearing.
When asked about the impact on Apple Daily’s operations, Chan said she would need to seek legal advice, but the newspaper would do its best to continue operating.
Chan said she believed all media workers in Hong Kong were worried about the current situation, but that the Apple Daily print edition would be published as usual on Sunday.
She said she had not resigned from the company at this time, after reporters pointed out that her two colleagues facing prosecution had offered to resign when making their bail applications.
Among the five Apple Daily staff members arrested on Thursday, two were charged on Saturday with conspiracy to collude with a foreign country or with external elements to endanger national security. Following their unsuccessful bail applications, their next hearing was scheduled for August 13.
