Seized by hordes of Hong Kong police, the millionaire who backed democracy
THE arrest of a prodemocracy media mogul in Hong Kong marks the end of a free Press in the former British territory, campaigners said yesterday.
Scores of police descended on the Apple Daily newspaper and marched owner Jimmy Lai through the office in handcuffs as part of a crackdown on dissent.
Mr Lai has been predicting his arrest since a draconian national security law came into force in June. He was among nine men and one woman detained on charges that include colluding with foreign forces. This offence under the security law comes with the threat of life in prison.
Two of Mr Lai’s sons were among those arrested along with Wilson Li, a freelance video journalist.
Mr Lai, 71, has been one of the most prominent supporters of democracy in the city and an ardent critic of Beijing.
In London, Foreign Office minister Nigel Adams said the arrests were ‘deeply concerning’, adding: ‘[This is] more evidence the national security law being used as pretext to silence opposition.’ Activist Nathan Law, who fled Hong Kong to London, said on social media: ‘The end of freedom of Press in Hong Kong. The national security law is quashing the freedom of our society, spreading politics of fear.’
Journalists at the Apple Daily broadcast dramatic footage on Facebook of some 200 uniformed police conducting the raid, and the newspaper’s editor Law Waikwong demanding a warrant from officers. Staff were ordered to line up so officers could check their identities and search the newsroom.
Chris Yeung of the Hong Kong Journalists Association, described the police action as ‘shocking and terrifying’. He added: ‘This is unprecedented, and would be unimaginable only one or two months ago.’
Chris Patten, the last British governor of the financial hub, accused authorities of carrying out ‘the most outrageous assault yet on what is left of Hong Kong’s free press’.
The security law was imposed by Beijing as it tried to quell the huge pro-democracy protests that began last year and curtail freedoms enjoyed by the Hong Kong Chinese that are not shared by those living in the rest of the authoritarian country.
It gives China the power to put its notorious secret police on to the streets and to transfer activists to the mainland. Mr Lai’s
Apple Daily and Next Magazine are unapologetically pro-democracy. They are enormously popular but funded largely by their owner because few companies dare advertise with them.
China routinely calls him the ‘black hand’ behind last year’s protests. In mid-June, two weeks before the new security law was introduced, Mr Lai said: ‘I’m prepared for prison.’
Many Western nations believe the security law has ended the autonomy that Beijing promised Hong Kong could keep after its 1997 handover by Britain.
There have been previous waves of arrests since it was passed on June 30 but Mr Lai’s is the highest profile. He is thought to be worth more than $1billion (£766million). He made his fortune in the clothing industry.
Senior British officers in the Hong Kong police could face a private prosecution in a UK court for torturing pro-democracy demonstrators.
The case against the expatriate officers is being brought by activists and lawyers, who are using a JustGiving page to fund a full-time legal team.
Luke de Pulford, of human rights group Hong Kong Watch, said many officers behind the ‘sustained brutality’ used on protesters were British and ‘as such, are subject to British law.’
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