After his release, the Hong Kong media entrepreneur Jimmy Lai called on the staff of his newspaper “Apple Daily”, which is critical of Beijing, to “fight on”. Lai was greeted with applause in the newspaper’s editorial office today, as recorded by journalists on Facebook.
Lai was arrested by police on Monday on charges of collusion with „foreign powers“. He was released on bail yesterday.
In his address, Lai urged Apple Daily employees to continue reporting the events in Hong Kong bluntly – even if that provoked the anger of the Chinese government. “Keep fighting! Let’s keep fighting! ”Said the 71-year-old.
It is becoming increasingly difficult for media companies in Hong Kong to survive, but the editors should not be put off by this. Lai added: „We have the support of the Hong Kong people, we must not let them down.“
Ten people arrested
At the beginning of the week, around 200 police officers searched the editorial office of the Lai newspaper “Apple Daily”. This is very popular in Hong Kong and takes a pro-democratic and critical line towards Beijing.
A total of ten people were arrested under the controversial Hong Kong new Chinese law. Among them were Lai’s two sons and the prominent democracy activist Agnes Chow. The activist was also released on bail yesterday. The arrests were sharply criticized internationally.
For a few weeks now, the security authorities have significantly tightened their actions against the democracy movement in the Chinese special administrative region. The „Security Law“ allows the authorities to crack down on any activity that they believe threatens China’s national security. Violations can be punished with life imprisonment.
