On June 17 morning the Hong Kong police used the National Security Law for arresting five editors and executives on charges of collusion with foreign powers. Police said they had strong evidence that more than 30 articles published by Apple Daily played a “crucial part” in a conspiracy with foreign countries to impose sanctions against China and Hong Kong in response to a crackdown on civil liberties in the semi-autonomous Chinese city. According to Apple Daily, the South China Morning Post and other local media, those arrested included Apple Daily’s chief editor Ryan Law, Next Digital CEO Cheung Kim-hung, the publisher’s chief operating officer and two other editors. Apple Daily founder Jimmy Lai is currently serving a 20-month prison sentence for his role in unauthorized assemblies in 2019. Li Kwai-wah, a senior superintendent at Hong Kong’s National Security Department, said Police also froze $18 million Hong Kong dollars ($2.3 million) worth of assets belonging to three companies linked to Apple Daily. More than 200 police officers were involved in the search of Apple Daily’s offices, and the government said a warrant was obtained to look for evidence of a suspected violation of the national security law.
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