Hong Kong police arrest Apple Daily columnist under security law
23 June, 2021
Hong Kong police arrested on Wednesday (Jun 23) a columnist of Apple Daily newspaper on suspicion of conspiring to collude with a foreign country or foreign forces, local media TVB said.
Police, which typically do not disclose the names of those arrested, said they arrested a 55-year-old man on those charges.
TVB identified the person as an Apple Daily columnist who publishes beneath the pen name of Li Ping.
Apple Daily is definitely a thorn in Beijing's side, with unapologetic support for the city's pro-democracy movement and caustic criticism of China's authoritarian leaders.
The newspaper will decide whether to close the publication at their next meeting on Friday after a secured asset freeze by authorities using the brand new national security law left the outspoken media group struggling to pay staff members.
On Wednesday, the first trial under Hong Kong's new national security law commenced with out a jury, a landmark moment for the financial hub's fast-changing legal traditions.
Trial by jury is a cornerstone of Hong Kong's 176-year-old common law system and is described by the city's judiciary on its website among the legal system's "most significant features".
However the national security law, that was penned in Beijing and imposed on Hong Kong this past year after huge and often violent protests, allows for cases to be tried by three specifically selected judges.
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