On Thursday hundreds of Hong Kong police arrested editors and executives of Hong Kong’s largest pro-democracy newspaper, Apple Daily.
The editors were arrested on suspicion of foreign collusion to endanger national security. This is the first use of Hong Kong’s new “national security law”, on a major media company.
Authorities also froze $2,3 million worth of assets that the newspaper holds.
This move is seen as part of a growing crackdown on free speech and personal liberties in Hong Kong, the only part of the People’s Republic of China where citizens used to enjoy wide ranging personal freedoms.
The arrests prompted a 5-fold increase in sales of the newspaper on Friday, with circulation jumping from 100 000 copies to 500 000.
Apple Daily has pledged to readers that it will continue its reporting and on Thursday night invited members of the media to its printing presses to watch its Friday edition roll off the press in a show of commitment.