WAN-IFRA and the World Editors Forum condemn the enforced closure of Apple Daily as a major blow to press freedom in Hong Kong.
Following a second police raid on the newsroom in under a year, the coordinated arrests of editor-in-chief, Ryan Law, and four senior executives under the controversial national security law, and the subsequent freezing of the company’s assets on 17 June, Apple Daily was forced to take the extreme measure of ceasing operations due to the increasingly untenable situation.
The culmination of a targeted campaign against the news organisation – that has seen the jailing of its owner, Jimmy Lai, the arrest of senior executives and editorial staff, newsroom raids, and a freeze of assets – brought the shutdown of the publication’s website, apps and social media accounts. The final edition of the newspaper hit newsstands with its final front page having the story of its own closure.
A daily with a usual print run of 80,000 was increased to a million copies in a final farewell to Hong Kong residents. The newspaper has been a consistent critic of the Hong Kong and Chinese authorities leading up to the crackdown including the arrest of its lead opinion writer, who published under the name ‘Li Ping’. He got arrested on suspicion of “conspiring to collude with foreign countries or foreign forces to endanger national security.”
“The enforced closure of Apple Daily signals the intent of the Hong Kong authorities to stifle criticism at all costs,” said WAN-IFRA CEO, Vincent Peyrègne. “Targeting journalism under the pretext of national security means the future for media freedom in Hong Kong looks increasingly bleak.”
Hong Kong authorities deny their actions are undermining press freedom.
“Given the wide interpretation and targeted use of current national security laws, this would likely signal yet another powerful tool in the legal arsenal of a government determined to clampdown on opposition voices and, despite their claims, press freedom in the territory,” said Peyrègne.