Hong Kong media mogul and most strident pro-democracy figures Jimmy Lai arrested under new security law

One of Hong Kong’s most strident pro-democracy figures has been arrested and the offices of the newspaper he owns searched by police in a stark escalation by authorities enforcing new national security laws brought in by Beijing. The raid on Apple Daily, Hong Kong’s largest pro-democracy daily paper, and arrest of Jimmy Lai and other senior executives were condemned by activists and journalists, who said they marked “the day press freedom officially died”. Apple Daily’s publisher, Next Digital Media, said it was “furious” about the raid and arrests. It warned that press freedom was “hanging by a thread” but said its staff remained committed to defending it. Lai, a 71-year-old media tycoon and outspoken supporter of Hong Kong’s pro-democracy movement, was arrested alongside six others including his son on Monday morning on suspicion of “collusion with foreign forces” and conspiracy to commit fraud. “The police operation is still ongoing and does not rule out more arrests,” the police force said. Hundreds of police descended on the Apple Daily building in an unprecedented hours-long raid, which was live-streamed by dozens of the paper’s staff. “Tell your colleagues to keep their hands off until our lawyers check the warrant,” the editor-in-chief, Ryan [...]

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