Hong Kong pro-democracy outlet shuts down after police raid, arrests

A Hong Kong-based pro-democracy media outlet is shutting down this week following a police raid that ended in several arrests of senior staff members, continuing a law enforcement crackdown on dissent in the city.

Staff for Stand News was reportedly detained by police and accused of “conspiracy to publish seditious publications,” according to BBC.

“Because of the situation, Stand News is ceasing operations immediately,” the publication wrote in a Facebook post on Wednesday.

Over 200 police officers were reportedly involved in the raid and were ordered to “search and seize relevant journalistic materials,” Hong Kong police told the news outlet.

The paper was one of the last outlets openly critical of the government in Hong Kong, according to The Associated Press.

The shutdown comes months after the pro-democracy paper Apple Daily closed its doors following a similar series of arrests.

In the statement on Facebook, Stand News detailed that it plans to remove social media content within a day and will no longer update its website. It also said that it will be cooperating with authorities in the investigation.

“This morning, the police arrested a number of senior and former senior staff of the company, [and] took many people away to assist in the investigation,” the statement said.

A total of three men and four women were arrested as a result of the raid, BBC reported.

Former and acting chief editors Chung Pui-kuen and Patrick Lam were reportedly among those arrested, as well as Chinese democracy icon Denise Ho. Margaret Ng, Christine Fang and Chow Tat-ch, who served as board members for the organization, were also arrested.

During a Wednesday press conference, Chief Secretary of police John Lee voiced his support of the raid, expressing that there would be “zero tolerance of behavior that threatens national security,” according to BBC.