Hong Kong Police Raid on StandNews, arrest of six individuals, and dawn raids on journalists’ homes represent the latest in an all-out assault on press freedom in Hong Kong

This morning, the Hong Kong Police raided the offices of StandNews and arrested six individuals under the Crimes Ordinance for “conspiracy to produce seditious publications”. Those arrested include current acting Chief Editor Patrick Lam, Deputy Editor Ronson Chan, who also led the Hong Kong Journalist’s Association, pro-democracy activist and lawyer Margaret Ng, and pro-democracy activist and singer Denise Ho. 

These arrests come a day after Jimmy Lai, the former owner of Apple Daily and six former Apple Daily journalists were charged with “conspiracy to “print, publish, sell, offer for sale, distribute, display and/or reproduce seditious publications.”

Freedom of the press is guaranteed under Article 27 of Hong Kong’s Basic Law, the constitutional settlement that has governed the city-region since its handover in 1997. 

Commenting on these arrests, Benedict Rogers, Hong Kong Watch’s co-founder and Chief Executive, said:

“These arrests are nothing short of an all-out assault on the freedom of the press in Hong Kong, coming just one day after Jimmy Lai and six former Apple Daily journalists received similar charges. 

When a free press guaranteed by Hong Kong’s Basic Law is labelled “seditious”, it is a symbol of the speed at which this once great open international city has descended into little more than a police state. 

On a personal note, I began my career as a journalist and activist in Hong Kong, which at the time was one of Asia’s most open cities where a reporter’s notebook meant something, Today, a reporter’s notebook has become a dangerous instrument in Hong Kong, and to write on its blank pages ideas, comments, opinions or facts could be a criminal offence. Reporting the truth in Hong Kong is now a crime.

As the legal guarantor of Hong Kong’s autonomy which includes a free press, the UK Government can no longer stand idly by. Especially when the UK has declared media freedom a priority in its foreign policy, it has a responsibility to defend it, not simply with rhetoric, but with action. It must act decisively and punish those Hong Kong and Chinese officials who seek to crush all dissent with targeted sanctions. Unless those responsible for the dismantling of Hong Kong’s freedoms are made to pay the consequences for their actions, they will only be emboldened to go further and threaten freedom itself.”

《立場新聞》6名現任及前任高層人員被捕 被指干涉「串謀發佈煽動刊物罪」

香港時間12月29日早上，警方突持搜查令到香港記者協會主席陳朗昇家中蒐證；同時國安處以涉嫌違反《刑事罪行條例》第9及10條「串謀發佈煽動刊物罪」為由拘捕《立場新聞》六位現任及前任高層人員，當中包括前總編輯及前董事鍾沛權、周達智、吳靄儀、方敏生、何韻詩及署理總編輯林紹桐。

是次拘捕行動前一天，律政司亦向《蘋果日報》創辦人黎智英、前總編輯羅偉光等多名高層加控「串謀刊印、發佈、分發、展示或複製煽動刊物罪」。

《基本法》第27條清楚列明對新聞自由的保障，香港監察總監羅傑斯對表示：「律政司對黎智英等人的加控及緊隨而來的拘捕無疑是對香港新聞自由的全面打壓，當理應受《基本法》保障的新聞自由被貼上了「煽動」的標籤，這更加印證了香港從一個國際城市淪為一個警察城市的情況。」

「作為香港高度自治 —— 包括新聞自由的法律保障，英國政府絕對不能夠袖手旁觀，特別是當英國表明保障新聞自由是其外交政策的重點時，更有責任以行動而非單純語言捍衛這項自由。英國政府必須果斷採取行動，以針對性的制裁懲罰踐踏新聞自由的港共官員。」