Hong Kong people snatch up latest edition of pro-democracy Apple Daily

Long lines formed, Thursday, June 24 in the morning, in front of newsstands in Hong Kong: many residents were trying to acquire the latest issue of the Apple Daily newspaper, forced to cease publication almost a year after the promulgation of the Beijing-initiated national security law.

For its last one, the pro-democracy daily chose to display a large photo of a journalist who, from the newsroom, greets the hundreds of people gathered Wednesday in front of the newspaper’s headquarters to bid him farewell.

“The Apple Daily is dead,” wrote deputy editor Chan Pui-man, arrested last week on charges of national security, in a letter to readers. “Freedom of the press has become the victim of tyranny”.

The disappearance of this newspaper is the latest blow to the freedom Hong Kongers have enjoyed until now. It gives rise to fears that in the long term, the numerous international media which have established their headquarters there will leave this financial center.

In the working-class district of Mongkok, in the early hours of the day, hundreds of people were waiting to have the latest edition in their hands. “Apple Daily, we’ll meet again,” sang some of them.

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These events are “shocking”, judged Candy, a thirty-something who only wanted to give her first name, “In two weeks, the authorities can use this national security law to dismantle a group listed on the stock exchange”.

Hours later, kiosks in Central, the city’s financial district, were always full. “It’s all so sudden,” regretted a student, Tim, worried that Hong Kong had entered “into a dark period”.

In the sights of Chinese power

The tabloid has long been in Beijing’s sights because of its support for the pro-democracy movement and its recurring criticism of the Chinese leadership. The latter did not hesitate to use the law on national security to force the title to disappear.

Its owner, newspaper mogul Jimmy Lai, is in custody for his involvement in 2019 pro-democracy protests. He is also charged under the National Security Act, punishable by life imprisonment.

But it was last week that a fatal blow was dealt to the newspaper: the newsroom was raided, five of its leaders arrested and the newspaper’s assets frozen. Unable to pay its employees and suppliers, the press group had no choice but to throw in the towel and announce that Thursday’s edition, with a million copies – for 7.5 million inhabitants -, would be the last.

During the night of Thursday to Friday, he deleted his website and his Twitter and Facebook accounts.

More than a thousand people, including 700 journalists, find themselves unemployed.

“Hong Kong people have lost a media outlet that dared to speak out and fought for the truth,” eight journalists’ associations said in a joint statement, calling on people working for media to dress in black.

Red line

China last year imposed the national security law to regain control of this territory after the vast pro-democracy movement of 2019.

A series of articles and editorials that police say called for international sanctions against China and Hong Kong prompted the lawsuits against Apple Daily.

Jimmy Lai, editor Ryan Law and managing director Cheung Kim-hung are in custody after being charged with collusion with a foreign power.

One of the columnists, Yeung Ching-kee, was arrested on Wednesday and faces the same charges.

The decision to freeze the assets of Apple Daily has shown the extent of the powers the authorities have to prosecute any company they believe threatens national security.

For decades, many international media have made Hong Kong their regional headquarters, attracted by favorable regulations and freedom of expression guaranteed by its mini-constitution.

But in recent months, many have wondered about their long-term future in the city.

The city continues to slide down the annual ranking of the NGO Reporters Without Borders on press freedom, going from 18th place in 2002 to 80th this year.

Chief Executive Carrie Lam said on Tuesday that “criticizing the government was not a problem” but that the red line not to be crossed was “to organize actions that incite subversion”.

Initially, the authorities claimed that the law imposed by Beijing, which aimed to put an end to all dissent, concerned only a “tiny minority”.

Almost a year later, it radically changed the political and judicial landscape of the city. More than sixty people have been charged with violating it, including many figures in the pro-democracy movement.

With AFP