Hong Kong’s police commissioner has accused it of creating hatred. Pro-Beijing media have called for it to be shut down. Lai has said the paper is on the right side of history. The raid by police on Thursday on its newsroom – Apple Daily’s second in less than a year – and on the homes of five of its executives, with an unprecedented warrant under Hong Kong’s national security law allowing the seizure of journalistic materials, has appeared to confirm fears that the government’s crackdown on media was now coming for its loudest critic.
Authorities said the five arrested executives, including its editor-in chief, Ryan Law, were accused of conspiring to collude with foreign forces, through the publication of more than 30 unspecified articles, breaching one of the most serious clauses of the draconian national security law introduce nearly one year ago.
