Hong Kong police have arrested the editor-in-chief of Apple Daily, a daily known for its critical coverage of China and Hong Kong.
According to a report on Thursday June 17 2021, those arrested included five senior officials and Ryan Law, the editor-in-chief.
The Thursday morning arrests are regarded as the latest in a series of police raids on the popular tabloid and its imprisoned owner, Jimmy Lai.
The report added that “The newspaper has long been a thorn in China’s side, openly supporting the pro-democracy movement in Hong Kong.”
It was also reported that the newspaper broadcast live footage of the police raid on its Facebook account as police officers were seen cordoning off the complex and walking through the building.
“They arrived around 7 am this morning, our building is besieged,” an unnamed reporter said.
“Now we can see those moving boxes of materials onto their truck,” the reporter stated.
“Police are restricting us from using quite a lot of our equipment. But we can still keep this live camera on and our website will keep updating,” the voice added.
According to a statement released by the Hong Kong government on Thursday, the five directors of the media organisation were arrested following suspicion of cooperation with a foreign country.
The statement added that four men and a woman, ages 47 to 63, were arrested.
In 2020, the publisher of Apple Daily, Jimmy Lai, was jailed under the same law.
