Hong Kong police raid pro-democracy Apple Daily paper and arrest five

Hong Kong police raid pro-democracy Apple Daily newspaper and arrest five senior staff including its chief editor – as its billionaire owner Jimmy Lai faces years in jail on collusion charges

  • The executives were arrested for ‘collusion with a foreign country’, police said
  • The popular pro-democracy tabloid is often targeted by police raids
  • Apple Daily’s billionaire owner Jimmy Lai was charged after a raid last August 

Hong Kong police have raided the offices of pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily and arrested five executives under the city’s national security law, including its chief editor Ryan Law.

The arrests on Thursday morning are the latest police operation targeting the popular tabloid that has unapologetically supported the financial hub’s pro-democracy movement.

Police said five executives were arrested ‘for collusion with a foreign country or with external elements to endanger national security’.

Hong Kong police have raided the offices of pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily and arrested chief editor Ryan Law (pictured)

The arrests on Thursday morning are the latest police operation targeting the popular tabloid

Police said five executives were arrested ‘for collusion with a foreign country or with external elements to endanger national security’

A police source confirmed to AFP that all five were executives from Next Digital, Apple Daily’s parent company.

Apple Daily said Law was among those arrested.

The paper broadcast live footage of the police raid on its Facebook account.

Officers could be seen cordoning off the complex and walking through the building.

Apple Daily’s billionaire owner Jimmy Lai (pictured) was charged with collusion after a raid last August

The paper broadcast live footage of the police raid on its Facebook account as officers cordoned off the complex (pictured)

It is the second raid on Apple Daily in less than a year.

Apple Daily’s billionaire owner Jimmy Lai was charged with collusion after a raid last August.

He is currently serving multiple jail sentences for attending various pro-democracy protests that rocked Hong Kong two years ago.

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