Hong Kong police raid pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily, arrest five

Hong Kong police raided the offices of pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily on Thursday morning and arrested five executives under the city’s national security law, including its chief editor Ryan Law.

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The arrests are the latest police operation targeting the popular tabloid that has unapologetically supported the financial hub’s pro-democracy movement.

Police said five executives were arrested “for collusion with a foreign country or with external elements to endanger national security”.

A police source confirmed to AFP that all five were executives from Next Digital, Apple Daily’s parent company.

Apple Daily said Law was among those arrested.

The paper broadcast live footage of the police raid on its Facebook account.

Officers could be seen cordoning off the complex and walking through the building.

It is the second raid on Apple Daily in less than a year.

Apple Daily’s billionaire owner Jimmy Lai was charged with collusion after a raid last August.

He is currently serving multiple jail sentences for attending various pro-democracy protests that rocked Hong Kong two years ago.

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