Hong Kong authorities arrest heads of Apple Daily under suspicion of violating national security law

In seemingly another crackdown on pro-democracy movements in Hong Kong, authorities on the Chinese territory arrested the editor and four other executives of the pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily. They were accused of violating China’s controversial national security law.

At around 7:30 a.m. local time, police raided the office of the newspaper known for its criticisms of the Chinese Community Party. Despite all the entrances and exits to the newsroom being blocked off, the paper managed to broadcast a livestream of the raid in real time on its Facebook account.

Ryan Law, second from right, Apple Daily's chief editor, is arrested by police officers in Hong Kong on Thursday.

In a statement, police said that they conducted a search of the office after obtaining a warrant that “covered the power of searching and seizure of journalistic materials.”

Authorities also raided the homes of the paper’s editor-in-chief Ryan Law, the CEO of Apple Daily’s parent company, Next Digital, Cheung Kim-hung, COO Chow Tat-Keun, and Apple Daily Publisher Chan Pui-man and Director Cheung Chi-wai. All five of those individuals were also arrested.

While police didn’t explicitly name those arrested, they did say in their statement that they were arrested for “collusion with a foreign country or with external elements to endanger national security.”

The owner of the paper, Hong Kong pro-democracy figurehead Jimmy Lai, was also arrested.

In this July 1, 2020, file photo, copies of Apple Daily's edition are seen with its front page title of "Draconian law is effective, one country two system is dead." (Vincent Yu/)

The busts on Thursday marked the second time that Apple Daily was raided by officials. Lai along with nine others, including his sons were arrested in that raid.

Last year, in response to mass pro-democracy movements that swept through Hong Kong, Beijing passed a law that reduced Hong Kong’s judicial autonomy, according to BBC News. Secession, subversion, and collusion with foreign nations were criminalized by the law, and those convicted of those crimes would face a maximum life sentence in prison.

Pro-democracy critics have challenged the legality of the law as it violates the agreement made when Britain handed Hong Kong back to China in 1997. The agreement fostered the “one country, two systems” policy, a policy that the national security law is seeking to end.

Since the law was passed, more than 100 people have been arrested in Hong Kong.