Six persons with links to the online publication Stand News were detained by Hong Kong’s national security authorities on Wednesday morning, according to local media.
In a statement, the Hong Kong Police Force announced that “six senior staff members or former senior staff members of an internet media organization were detained for conspiracy to print seditious publication.” More than 200 policemen were deployed on Wednesday in a search operation “against an online media organization,” according to a second statement from police.
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According to police, a warrant was granted under the national security law, a contentious piece of legislation imposed by Beijing in mid-2020, to search and collect “relevant journalistic documents.” According to the South China Morning Post, the media business was Stand News, which is famous among Hong Kong opposition activists. Three males and three women, ranging in age from 34 to 73, were arrested, according to police.
Hong Kong’s security law targets pro-democracy opposition and opposes activities that Beijing considers subversive, separatist, terrorist or conspiratorial. In the view of critics, it serves to silence the opposition and cement the power of the Communist Party.
Over 100 democracy activists have been arrested under the vague and far-reaching law, and dozens remain in jail on protest-related charges. In June, Hong Kong’s pro-democracy newspaper, Apple Daily, was shut down after the tabloid was targeted by the authorities for alleged violations of the law.
Since July 1, 1997, the former British Crown Colony has been part of China again and is governed semi-autonomously as a so-called special administrative region.
According to a survey released in November, 46 per cent of all journalists working in Hong Kong are thinking about turning their backs on the Chinese special administrative region following the introduction of the law.
As many as 84 per cent of respondents said their working conditions had deteriorated since the law was introduced in July 2020. Fear of legal consequences has even led 56 per cent of journalists to self-censor themselves.
