Apple Daily raids and arrests
The offices of "Apple Daily", once the largest pro-democracy newspaper in Hong Kong, and its parent company, Next Digital, were raided and executives arrested by the Hong Kong Police Force on 10 August 2020 and again on 17 June 2021. Some of the arrested and three companies of Next Digital were charged under the Hong Kong national security law. The 26-year-old newspaper was forced to close in June 2021 following the raids and freezing of its capital. Background. National Security Law. Before Hong Kong national security law was imposed by the Beijing  Government and officially promulgated by the Hong Kong Government on 30 June 2020, Jimmy Lai, the founder of Next Digital, was rumoured to be a target under the new law. Lai insisted on not leaving Hong Kong; during two interviews on 16 and 29 June he said that he was expecting to be jailed. He also vowed to fight until the last moment. United States sanctions. The United States Department of the Treasury announced first round of sanctions against 11 Hong Kong and Chinese officials on 7 August 2020. Chief Executive of Hong Kong Carrie Lam, Secretary for Justice Teresa  Cheng, Secretary for Security John Lee, Police Commissoner Chris Tang were among those on SDN list. The Department denounced Lam's critical role in pushing the later withdrawn extradition bill and the national security law, suppressing the freedom and democracy in Hong Kong. The PRC Government counter-sanctioned 11 US congressmen and politicians on 10 August, including Josh Hawley, as well as Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz, and Chris Smith, who had already been sanctioned earlier. First raid. Events. In the morning on 10 August 2020, the National Security Department of the Hong Kong Police Force arrested founder of Next Digital  Jimmy Lai. Four senior management staff of the company, CEO Cheung Kim-hung, CFO Royston Chow Tat-kuen, Administrative Director Wong Wai-keung, and Animation Director Ng Tat-kwong, were arrested on suspicion on conspiracy to commit fraud, while Chow was also with the suspicion of collusion with foreign forces under the National Security Law. Two sons of Lai were arrested also under the suspicion of collusion with foreign forces. Mark Simon, the adviser to Lai who was not in Hong Kong, was reportedly wanted by the police. He later confirmed on Twitter that Lai had been arrested under the  national security law. Nearly 200 police cordoned, raided, and searched the headquarter of Next Digital and "Apple Daily" in Tseung Kwan O Industrial Estate at 10 am after making arrests. Ryan Law Wai-kwong, editor-in-Chief of "Apple Daily", asked the cops to show the search warrant issued by the court. "Apple Daily" said such request was ignored, but the Police Force later rejected such claim. The administrative Department of "Apple Daily" called the staff not to come to work due to unexpected situations. Some journalists were prevented from picturing the office desk by the police, while those at  the office had their personal information taken by the police. It was said the departments of local news, breaking news and finance news were raided. Handcuffed Lai was brought to the office at around 11 am. Chan Pui-man, Associate Publisher of "Apple Daily", and Law insisted to monitor the raid and argued that the search warrant did not cover the news material, which was echoed by Steve Li Kwai-wah from the National Security Department, although the police took away the materials and threatened to arrest two with suspicion of obstructing police officers. Cheung, also handcuffed, arrived at noon . Lawyers were permitted to reach Lai and Cheung after negotiations with the police. Editors while working and reporters were asked to leave the office, blocked from taking photos of Cheung, and were stopped from entering the editing department of the office. Lai and Cheung left the office at around 1 pm following three-hour raid in the office. Computers, mobile phones, details of the exiled activists and other evidences were said to be taken away. Some pro-Beijing activists celebrated the raid outside the office. Controversies stirred as local and international reporters from RTHK, Stand News, Inmedia, AFP and Reuters  were not allowed to enter press area, while media said to be pro-government were allowed in. On the same day, Hong Kong police also arrested three activists: Agnes Chow, Wilson Li Chung-chak and Andy Li Yu-hin, and sent three officers with a court order to the Hong Kong office of The Nikkei who ran an advert paid for by pro-democracy activists in 2019. Reactions. The unprecedented raid caused widespread controversy in the international community. Effects. Volatile stock. Following the news of Jimmy Lai arrested spread in the city, the stock of Next Digital was volatile as  pledge to buy the stock emerged at the online forums. The stock plunged more than 15% after Lai arrested, but then surged nearly 280% in the afternoon, becoming the stock with the best performance in the day. The stock price, at peak, accumulated more than 2,000% of increase in 3 days only, but then plunged again. Police arrested 15 people on suspicion of fraud and money-laundering on 10 September, insisting that the arrest operation only targeted the scam taking advantage of the Next Digital incident instead of the company. Purchase of newspaper. "Apple Daily" supporters called for buying newspaper  as to show support to the newspaper. The newspaper printed 350,000 copies for 11 August edition, and later raised the number to 550,000 in the early morning of the day, which is significantly higher than the normally 70,000 copies. Queues were seen at the newspaper stalls. Second raid. Events. In the morning on 17 June 2021, the National Security Department of the Hong Kong Police Force arrested five Next Digital executives. They included the company's CEO Cheung Kim-hung, COO Royston Chow Tat-kuen, "Apple Daily" editor-in-chief Ryan Law, vice-president Chan Pui-man, and Next Animation  Studio chief executive director Cheung Chi-wai. Around 500 police officers and National Security Department officers went straight to the "Apple Daily" headquarters in Tseung Kwan O Industrial Estate, blocking off the building and all exits. All staff and persons entering the building must register with ID cards and staff cards, and are also required providing personal information such as telephone number and address, Li Kwai-wah, a senior Superintendent of the National Security Department of the police, also came to investigate. A police officer wearing a black vest at the scene said that after registration, all employees returning to  the building could only leave or go to the restaurant on the 5th floor, and cannot enter other areas of the building. They also pointed out that they were searching for evidence at the scene to prevent reporters from returning to work, and that shooting was prohibited. Police asked reporter to leave the desk. When the police arrived, there were about 20 employees in the "Apple Daily" building, including several reporters and cleaners. The police asked everyone to lay down their work and gather in the lobby on the second floor. The police then registered their ID cards and  then asked them to stop work and leave, the reporter was asked to go to the staff restaurant on the 5th floor. During the period, a number of police officers randomly searched the documents on the reporter's desk and opened the cabinet, and asked the reporter to testify. However, the reporter claimed that the company lawyer could only read the documents after the company's lawyer arrived, and refused to assist in the search for evidence. The police officer immediately called the reporter to sit down. Low, and there was no positive response as to whether the evidence search  will begin after the lawyer arrives. An agent turned on the reporter's computer to search for information. At present, all reporters in the building have been asked to leave the editorial department and wait in the underground space or on the 5th floor. They were unable to enter and exit the building freely. Police officers stepped forward to stop them. The reporter used a camcorder to film police officers during the search. It is reported that an employee's company phone placed on the desk on the second floor had a record of "being online" at 8 o'clock in  the morning. Police arrests executives and searched the materials. Information Services Department stated at 7:24 am that the National Security Department arrested five company directors of the Apple Daily this morning on suspicion of violating the National Security Law. The 5 persons, including 4 men and 1 woman, aged between 47 and 63, were suspected of violating Article 29 of the Hong Kong National Security Law, for conspiracy to colluding with foreign forces. The police also went to the arrested person's residence. Five people have been detained for investigation. At 8:07 am, it stated that the National Security Department  executed a court warrant issued by the court in accordance with Article 43(1) of the Hong Kong National Security Law and Schedule 1 of the Implementation Rules this morning to search a media organization in Tseung Kwan O. The search warrant granted the police the power to search including news materials. The purpose of the operation was to search evidence for a suspected violation of the National Security Law. Police searched two arrested executives residence. The five arrested persons are CEO of Next Digital Cheung Kim-hung, COO Chow Tat-kuen, vice president of "Apple Daily" Chan Pui-man, editor -in-chief Ryan Law and chief executive director Cheung Chi-wai. Several police officers arrived at Kornhill before 7 am. About half an hour later, Ryan Law was taken away from the apartment. At that time, his hands were handcuffed. In addition, some media said that Chan Pui-man's residence was forcibly "exploded" by the police. Inside, the search lasted two and a half hours, and two electronic devices that did not belong to Chan were taken away, including two laptop computers and a tablet computer. They were taken to Tseung Kwan O Police Station, Chai Wan Police Station  and Cheung Sha Wan Police Station to assist in the investigation. By 9 am, Cheung and Law were taken away from the police station. They were then taken by a private car to the Apple Daily building to search for evidence. The lawyers was also present to find out. When Cheung and Law were brought into the building, their hands were locked in handcuffs. Nearly 10:30 am, Cheung, Chow, and Chan were taken back to the "Apple Daily" headquarters by police. NSD freezes "Apple Daily"-related assets. Senior Superintendent Li Kwai-wah of the National Security Department explained the incident at  11 a.m., said that more than 500 police forces were used in the operation this morning. The police had frozen the assets of three companies, including "Apple Daily", "Apple Printing" and "AD Internet Limited" totaling HK$18 million. Since 2019, "Apple Daily" has contained dozens of articles calling for foreign sanctions against the CCP and the SAR government. The five arrested people are very important to the company's operations. They are responsible for the content style and policy of the article, and it is not ruled out that some people will be arrested. catch. At about 12 noon, 2 Apple  Daily executives and 3 journalists were taken away from the headquarters. Editor-in-chief Ryan Law was taken to the North Point Police Station for investigation, and Next Media CEO Cheung Kim-hung was taken there Cheung Sha Wan Police Station; COO Chow Tat-kuen was first taken to Aberdeen Police Station, and then transferred to Western Police Station for detainment. Vice President Chan Pui-man was taken to Tseung Kwan O Police Station; after chief executive director Cheung Chi-wai left the building, he was taken to Wong Tai Sin Police Station. The police will seize documents and materials  in the "Apple Daily" headquarters, including at least 44 computers, containing a large amount of news materials. In addition, they will seize more than a large number of past newspapers from the newspaper's library. The dates involved are from January 2017 to that day. These exhibits were put into a number of blue plastic boxes, and then the police officers moved the plastic boxes to a secret truck parked downstairs to take them away. At about 1:15 pm, the police raided the "Apple Daily" headquarters for more than 5 hours and then collected the team and left. Effects. Closure  of Apple Daily. On 21 June, "Apple Daily" announced it would have to close unless the accounts were unfrozen, as it was unable to pay its staff or support operating costs. On 23 June, the newspaper said it would close "in view of staff members' safety" and the print run of 24 June would be its last. "Apple Daily" also said its digital version would go offline at 23:59 Hong Kong Time (UTC+8) on 23 June. Activists backed up the news articles from "Apple Daily" on various blockchain platforms to ensure the content was available and free from Chinese censorship . Subsequent arrests and charges against executives. On the next day after the raid, "Apple Daily" editor-in-chief Ryan Law and CEO Cheung Kim-hung were charged for colluding with foreign forces, and they both remanded in prison. Meanwhile, the three others (Chan Pui-man, Chow Tat-kuen and Cheun Chi-wai) were released on bail, while pending their further investigation by the police. "Apple Daily" editorialist "Li Ping" (Yeung Ching-kee) was arrested on 23 June “on suspicion of conspiring to collude with foreign countries or foreign forces to endanger national security”, Fung Wai-kong, editor-in-chief of  the English news section at "Apple Daily", was arrested on 27 June at Hong Kong International Airport while attempting to flee the city. On 21 July, former executive director of now-closed "Apple Daily", Lam Man-chung, was arrested for conspiracy to colluding with foreign forces. On 22 July, the remaining four executives, Chan Pui-man, Lam Man-chung, Fung Wai-kwong and Yeung Ching-kee, were all charged for conspiracy to colluding with foreign forces. All of them had their bail denied while being detained at the police station, and they will appear at West Kowloon Courts on Thursday