Just Earth News | @justearthnews | 18 Jun 2021, 09:11 am Print
Apple Daily Image: Dominic Raab Twitter page
London: UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab on Thursday targeted China over the raids and arrests at Apple Daily in Hong Kong and said it demonstrated Beijing is using the National Security Law to target dissenting voices.
"Today’s raids & arrests at Apple Daily in Hong Kong demonstrate Beijing is using the National Security Law to target dissenting voices, not tackle public security. Freedom of the press is one of the rights China promised to protect in the Joint Declaration & should be respected," Raab tweeted.
Some 500 policemen raided the offices of pro-democracy paper Apple Daily in Hong Kong by alleging that the report published by it breached a national security law.
Police also arrested the editor-in-chief and four other executives at their homes. It also froze HK$18m ($2.3m; £1.64m) of assets owned by three companies linked to Apple Daily, reports BBC.
Jimmy Lai is the owner of the paper. He is currently in jail and facing several charges.
Apple Daily is known to be critical of the mainland Chinese leadership, reports BBC.
- Taipei: Vigil to mark 1989 Tiananmen Square Massacre attracts 3000 participants
- Pakistan: 17-year-old social media creator shot dead in Islamabad residence
- China's colonial boarding schools are eroding Tibetan identity, reveals new report
- UN says Gaza is the ‘hungriest place on earth’
- Bangladesh apex court acquits Islamist leader ATM Azharul Islam facing death sentence for 1971 war crimes
