‘CHILLING’

Hong Kong Charges Top Editors of Pro-Democracy Paper in Media Crackdown

The tabloid is owned by the imprisoned billionaire and Beijing critic Jimmy Lai.

A day after Hong Kong police raided a pro-democracy newspaper and arrested five executives, the editor-in-chief and the CEO have been charged with colluding with a foreign country. In support of Apple Daily, Hong Kongers stood on line Friday to buy copies of the tabloid, which is owned by Jimmy Lai, the billionaire Beijing critic who was arrested last year. But U.N. human rights spokesperson Rupert Colville told Reuters the raid, carried out under a national security law imposed last year, “sends a further chilling message for media freedom.” Hong Kong authorities said they may still charge the other three editors arrested.