The city’s national security department said on Wednesday that the arrests were made for conspiracy to publish seditious material, an offense under the colonial-era Crimes Ordinance. The offense is punishable by up to two years in prison and a $5,000 fine, which is the equivalent of $641.
After Stand News said the arrests and police raids that it would cease operations, its executive editor resigned and immediately sacked all employees.
The arrests are yet another attack on the freedom of the press in the city. After Beijing imposed a national security law on the city in June last year, the local media came under scrutiny. The pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily published its final edition after 26 years in June this year after the arrest of senior journalists and politicians, including founder Jimmy Lai.
Senior Superintendent of National Security Department Lee Kwai-wah told reporters after Stand News’ arrest that the news site continued to publish seditious material from July 2020 to November 2021, since the National Security Act came into force. Mr. Lee raised some examples, with the news site describing Hong Kong protesters as missing and reporting that police were pointing to the yellow helmets the protesters were wearing during the conflict, saying “all of them Burn it.” Mr. Lee said such articles were published with the intention of inciting hatred against the government and discontent among the community.
Mr. Lee said police found HK$500,000 in cash at Stand News offices and had frozen nearly $61 million in assets. He said the police were probing the source of the money.
Holding a copy of the national security law and referring to the protection of media freedom as prescribed by law, Mr. Lee said the officers were not targeting any profession, but anyone who broke the law.
News of the arrest was revealed in a 45-second live broadcast by deputy assignment editor Ronson Chan, who also heads the Hong Kong Journalists’ Association. Mr Chan began streaming on Stand News’ Facebook page as the National Security Police showed up at his door early Wednesday, before he was asked by officers to stop filming. Mr. Chan was later released.
Since it was launched in late 2014 as the non-profit successor to pro-democracy media outlet House News – after a 79-day pro-democracy sit-in on the city’s streets – Stand News has been one of the city’s boldest independent news organizations. has emerged as: , with a focus on local politics. Its journalists and live streams were among the most-watched during the 2019 protests, documenting their clashes with protesters and police during events across the city.
It ranked highest in credibility among the city’s online news media in the 2019 Chinese University of Hong Kong survey.
Following the collapse of Apple Daily in June, Stand News said it would stop running opinion pieces — purging past articles from its website — and stop accepting subscriptions and sponsorships as a precaution.
Those arrested on Wednesday include former top editor Chung Pui-kuen, who resigned from his post in November citing family reasons. His wife, Chan Pui-man, a former associate publisher of Apple Daily, was among the group arrested in June.
On Wednesday, police also arrested several former members of the Stand news board, who stepped down earlier this year after the company began taking precautions to reduce its exposure and protect employees. Also in the group was singer Denise Ho, whose arrest at 6 a.m. was confirmed by administrators of her verified Facebook page, and by barrister and former MP Margaret Ng. The site’s acting top editor, Patrick Lamm, was also arrested.
Mr Chung and Ms Ng could not be reached for comment. A message on Ms Ho’s Facebook page said she was fine and urged supporters not to worry.
Hong Kong’s police force said on Wednesday it had obtained warrants under national security law to search the news site’s offices in the industrialized Kwan Tong district and seize journalistic material. The department said it deployed 200 uniformed and plain-clothed police officers during the operation. Local media broadcast footage of him removing dozens of boxes from the Stand News office building.
“The arrests… are an open assault on Hong Kong’s already eroded press freedom,” said Steven Butler, Asia program coordinator for the Committee to Protect Journalists. “The authorities should release [them] and immediately drop all charges against him if Hong Kong is to retain any semblance of freedom that its residents enjoyed a few years ago.”
CPJ said it was the first year since records began in 1992 that journalists in Hong Kong were imprisoned for their work. Its 2021 prison census showed China remains the world’s worst jailer for journalists for the third year in a row.
The arrest comes a day after courts charged Apple Daily founder Mr. Lai and six of his former employees with conspiracy to create and distribute seditious publications while they await their national security trial. Mr. Lai’s lawyers could not be immediately contacted.
The offense of sedition in Hong Kong falls under the Crimes Ordinance, which was last amended in 1972, when the city was still a British colony. It defines a seditious intent as “to incite hatred or contempt or dissent against the person of Her Majesty” or as an attempt by the government of Hong Kong. The city still follows common law and has a different legal system than the mainland.
In June, when Apple Daily published its final edition and its executives were arrested and assets confiscated, US President Joe Biden issued a statement targeting the free press and detaining media personnel. criticized Beijing. “Journalists are truth-tellers who hold leaders accountable and keep information flowing freely. This is needed now more than ever in Hong Kong and around the world where democracy is at risk,” he said.
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