PRESS RELEASE: Second anniversary of National Security Law Raid on Hong Kong’s Apple Daily and arrest of Jimmy Lai
Wednesday 10th August – The Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong (CFHK) notes the second anniversary of the first police raid of Hong Kong newspaper Apple Daily. On the 10thof August 2020, pro-democracy figure Jimmy Lai and other senior executives were arrested, and the offices of the newspaper searched by police in an hours-long raid. The raid marked the first time the National Security Law was used against the media.
CFHK President Mark Clifford was the only director of parent company Next Digital Ltd. in Hong Kong not arrested at the time.
The arrests and raids marked the beginning of a rapid deterioration of press and media freedoms in Hong Kong and was followed by the closure of many outlets, including Apple Daily less than a year later. The closure was accompanied with the detention of six other Apple Daily employees. The attack on media in recent years has led to Hong Kong plummeting in the press freedom rankings, Reporters Without Bordersrecently placed the city 146th out of 180 countries.
CFHK calls for the release of Jimmy Lai and, the Apple Daily Six and all journalists who continue to be imprisoned by Hong Kong authorities. The UK Government must do more to ensure the unequivocal release of Jimmy Lai as a British citizen. Failure to stand up for a free press is a failure to defend democracy.
Mark Clifford, CFHK President, said:
“The arrest of Jimmy Lai and senior officials and the raid of the Apple Daily offices was the start of a brutal crackdown on media freedoms in Hong Kong. Since that day, scores of journalists have been arrested and pro-democracy outlets shut down by police.
“Jimmy Lai and all of the Apple Daily Seven, my own colleagues, continue to be held in prison for simply exercising their right to free press and freedom of expression – rights guaranteed under Hong Kong’s Basic Law. The international community must continue to shine a spotlight on their unjust detention. China must live up to the solemn promises it made under the Sino-British Agreement and the Basic Law or risk being regarded as an international pariah.”
