Media tycoon Jimmy Lai, owner of Apple Daily of Hong Kong, and pro-democracy activist Agnes Chow, have been released on bail after being arrested as part of a collapse under a new security law introduced by Beijing.
Lai was released in the early hours of Wednesday, flanked by his lawyers, and greeted by supporters who “fight to the end” and “support apple, have an apple a day”, referring to the pro- democracy.
He made no comment after his release. Lai’s deposit was set at HK $ 300,000 ($ 38,461), plus a security deposit of HK $ 200,000 ($ 25,805).
The fierce critic of the Communist Party’s government in Beijing was arrested on Monday on suspicion of collusion with foreign troops when about 200 officers raided the offices of his newspaper and collected 25 boxes. Journalists at the newspaper streamed dramatic footage of the robbery on Facebook.
An enormous media scrum outside police station Mong Kok, as @JimmyLaiApple is finally released on bail under the NSL 40 hours after his arrest.
According to Oriental Daily, Lai was required to pay HK $ 500k (US $ 64.5k) in bail, and HK $ 50 million of his assets were frozen. pic.twitter.com/VEVYf2Cy2o
– Eric Cheung (@EricCheungwc) 11 August 2020
A total of 10 people were arrested on Monday, with the aim of pro-democracy opposition figures in the semi-autonomous territory that drew international criticism and the fears that Beijing would once again call for freedoms promised under the formula “one country, two systems “that have been in place since the end of British colonial rule in 1997.
The harsh security legislation, imposed on June 30, punishes everything Beijing considers as secession, subjugation, “terrorism” or collusion with foreign troops with up to life in prison.
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Hong Kong media tycoon arrested under new security law |
Hong Kong government and Chinese Hong Kong authorities say the law is necessary to restore order after months of sometimes violent anti-government and pro-democracy protests.
Lai’s release comes after his two sons and activist Agnes Chow were also released late on Tuesday.
Following her release, Chow, who became a leading figure in the 2014 Umbrella Movement, called her arrest “political persecution and political repression,” according to the South China Morning Post.
“It is very clear that the regime is using the national security law to suppress political dissidents,” she said.
Chow also told reporters she was ‘unprepared’ when she was arrested Monday night.
“I’ve been arrested four times before, but honestly this time I was most scared. And it was the hardest.”
She added that authorities had not presented evidence of how she wrote the national security law.
The latest cut came less than two weeks after police made their first arrests of four students under the new National Security Act.
‘Dance with the enemy’
The Apple Daily has reacted with resistance to Lai’s arrest, with readers standing in the early hours of Tuesday waiting to receive copies of the newspaper.
“Apple Daily has to fight on,” reads its headline on the front page.
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Critics accuse Hong Kong of collapsing on press freedom |
“The prayers and encouragement of many readers and writers lead us to believe that as long as there are readers, there will be writers, and that Apple Daily will surely fight on.”
More than 500,000 copies were printed, compared to the usual 100,000, the paper said on its website.
Lai, born on the mainland who was smuggled on a fishing boat in Hong Kong when he was a penniless 12-year-old, is one of the most prominent democracy activists in the city.
The Chinese government has in the past branded him a “traitor” and issued a statement supporting his arrest, while Beijing-backed China Daily newspaper said Lai’s arrest “showed the cost of dancing with the enemy”.
The paper added that “delay of justice does not mean lack of justice”.
Agnes Chow: Former Hong Kong teen activist China wants silence https://t.co/dd4Sxuptru @chowtingagnes #hongkong @jerometaylor pic.twitter.com/SVA5AO1Cf3
Hong Kong Free Press HKFP (@HongKongFP) 11 August 2020
The recent arrests also created a fresh round of international condemnation
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called Lai a “patriot” on Monday, saying Beijing had “denied” Hong Kong’s freedoms.
Meanwhile, the UK said Lai’s arrest was further evidence that the security law was a ‘precaution to silence opposition’, to which the Chinese embassy responded by urging London to stop “the freedom of the press”. use as an excuse to discredit the law “.
The US last week imposed sanctions on several top officials over what it said was its role in curtailing political freedoms in Hong Kong. China has responded with sanctions on top US lawmakers and others.
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