Hong Kong police arrested a former Apple Daily reporter at the airport | Free Press News

When Feng Weiguang was arrested, the pro-democracy media stance journalism stopped fundraising due to concerns about the National Security Law.

According to local media reports, Hong Kong police arrested a former senior journalist at the airport on Sunday evening. The media has now been closed for alleged violations of national security.

The police usually do not disclose the name of the arrested person, but said in a statement that a 57-year-old man was arrested at the airport on charges of “conspiracy to collude with foreign countries or foreign powers to endanger national security”.

They added that he has been detained and the investigation is continuing.

The South China Morning Post and Citizen News referred to the detainee as Feng Weiguang, an editor and columnist for the now closed democracy tabloid.

They said he was believed to be heading to the UK when he was arrested.

Feng is the seventh staff member of the pro-democracy Apple Daily who has been arrested on national security grounds in recent weeks. At the time of the arrest, the Hong Kong authorities suppressed dissidents in this semi-autonomous city, arrested most of the city’s prominent democrats, and revised Hong Kong’s election law to exclude opposition voices from the legislature.

Earlier this month, the authorities froze US$2.3 million worth of assets related to the Apple Daily. force It ceased operations.Apple Daily print The final version was released last week, citing employee safety and inability to pay wages.

The Hong Kong authorities stated that dozens of articles in the newspaper may have violated China’s national security law. This is the first case reported by the authorities against the media under the legislation.

The Hong Kong Journalists Association responded to reports of the arrest at the airport, condemning the police for targeting reporters again and asking them to explain the incident.

“The Hong Kong Association reaffirms that freedom of speech and freedom of the press are Hong Kong’s core values,” it said in a statement. “If even the writing of literati cannot be tolerated, Hong Kong will hardly be regarded as an international city.”

The suspension of the publication of Apple Daily and the arrest of its reporters caused a chill in the media industry in Hong Kong.

The pro-democracy online media Stance News said in a statement late Sunday that it would delete comments made on its website before June and stop fundraising activities due to concerns about comprehensive national security laws.

Position News said in a statement that these measures were taken to protect the news media’s supporters, writers and editors in Hong Kong’s “literary interrogation”.

Despite taking precautions, Stand News promised to continue reporting on this news.

“For six and a half years, the news team in the station and the people of Hong Kong have been in the same boat, cherishing each other and weaving a common memory of Hong Kong’s survival,” it said in a statement.

“In order to pass on these memories, we will stick to our posts and walk with the people of Hong Kong… to write and record news and events in Hong Kong.”