Stand News, a pro-democracy media outlet in Hong Kong, closed its doors on Wednesday after police raided its newsroom, froze property owners and arrested officials on suspicion of crimes of “seditious publication”, in the most recent crackdown against local media.
Created in 2014 as a non-profit, Stand News has been Hong Kong’s most prominent surviving pro-democracy publication since a national security investigation this year led to the closure of tycoon Jimmy Lai’s imprisoned Apple Daily tabloid .
The operation heightened concerns about press freedom in the former British colony, which returned to Chinese control in 1997 with a promise that a wide range of individual rights would be protected, media advocacy groups said.
“Now Stand News is ending operations,” the Facebook post said, adding that all employees were laid off.
Steve Li, head of the police’s national security department, told reporters that Stand News published news and comments that incited hatred toward the authorities.
According to him, some of the articles said that protesters disappeared during the 2019 pro-democracy protests in the city or that they were sexually harassed, which he called “factually unfounded” and “malicious”.
Li also said that some articles falsely claimed the Communist Party extended its powers to the city’s independent courts or called for foreign sanctions.
Despite the accusations, the head of national security did not specify the reports. Reuters did not independently verify any Stand News reports.
Li said police froze assets worth $7.82 million, as well as computers, telephones and journalistic materials, and would not rule out additional arrests.
“We are not targeting reporters. We are targeting national security crimes,” he said.
Police said 200 agents searched the Stand News newsroom and that three men and four women, ranging in age from 34 to 73, were arrested on suspicion of “conspiracy to publish seditious publications.”
The corporation did not identify them, but media said four members of the Stand News board had been arrested, former Democratic lawmaker Margaret Ng, pop singer Denise Ho, Chow Tat-chi and Christine Fang, as well as former editor-in-chief Chung Pui-kuen and interim editor Patrick Lam.
Reference: CNN Brasil
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