In June, hundreds of police raided the premises of the pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily, arresting executives for alleged "collusion with a foreign country." The newspaper subsequently shut down.
Critics say the legislation is a tool to quash dissent. Sedition is not a crime under the sweeping national security law imposed on the city by Beijing in June 2020.īut recent court judgments have freed authorities to use powers conferred by the new legislation to deploy previously seldom-used colonial era laws, including the Crime Ordinance, which covers sedition.Īuthorities say the national security law has restored order after often-violent pro-democracy unrest in 2019 and that it does not curb rights and freedoms. The United States has also sanctioned five Hong Kong-based Chinese officials following legislative council elections in the city earlier this month for reducing Hong Kong’s autonomy and freedoms.Ĭhinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said at a daily briefing Thursday that China will respond by imposing countermeasures on five Americans, including former Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross and U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission President Carolyn Bartholomew.Police stand guard outside the Stand News office after six people were arrested "for conspiracy to publish seditious publication," according to Hong Kong's Police National Security Department, in Hong Kong, Dec. Stand News said Wednesday that it is ceasing operations and had laid off all its staff. Joy tweeted that “freedom of media and expression remain cornerstones of democracy and essential to the protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms.” She said that Canada will continue to speak out and denounce violations of these freedoms, in partnership with our international allies. These freedoms enabled Hong Kong to flourish as a global center for finance, trade, education, and culture,” he said. “Freedom of expression, including media freedom, and access to information provided by an independent media are critical to prosperous and secure societies.
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A confident government that is unafraid of the truth embraces a free press.” “It should be very clear what is reporting of news, and what is seditious acts or activities to undermine national security.”īlinken criticized the arrests, saying that by silencing independent media, Chinese and local authorities undermine Hong Kong’s “credibility and viability. “Journalism is not sedition, but seditious acts and activities and inciting other people through other acts and activities could not be condoned under the guise of news reporting,” Lam, the Hong Kong leader, told a news conference. Ho was released from police custody on Thursday afternoon. They include four former Stand News board members, including Ho and former lawmaker Margaret Ng.
The others have been detained for further questioning. Lam was not present in court because he was in the hospital.
The cases were brought to West Kowloon court on Thursday, police said in a statement. Police also said they would prosecute the company for sedition. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken called on Hong Kong authorities to release the detainees, and Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs Melanie Joly said her country was deeply concerned about the arrests, which included singer Denise Ho, a Canadian citizen and activist.Īccording to a charge sheet, national security police filed one count each of conspiracy to publish a seditious publication against Chung Pui-kuen and Patrick Lam, former editors at Stand News. Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam defended the raid on Stand News amid a wider crackdown on dissent in the semiautonomous city, telling reporters that “inciting other people … could not be condoned under the guise of news reporting.” HONG KONG - Two former editors from a Hong Kong online pro-democracy news outlet were charged with sedition and denied bail Thursday, a day after one of the last openly critical voices in the city said it would cease operations following a police raid on its office and seven arrests.
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