Chief Executive Carrie Lam terminating press freedom in Hong Kong: NGO after Stand News raid

Condemning the recent raid on the office of Hong Kong independent media Stand News, Paris-based NGO Reporters Without Borders said that Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam is terminating press freedom in the territory and called on authorities to release all journalists detained.

In a statement after Hong Kong authorities raided the office of Stand News and current former and current employees, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) drew a parallel between raids on Stand News and crackdown early this year on pro-democracy Apple Daily.

Exactly six months after the dismantling of the Next Digital group and its flagship newspaper Apple Daily, Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam once again shows her determination to terminate press freedom in the territory by eliminating Stand News in a similar fashion", says Cedric Alviani, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) East Asia bureau head, who calls for the release of all journalists and urges democracies "to act in line with their own values and obligations and defend what's left of the free press in Hong Kong before China's model of information control claims another victim".

Months after the closure of the pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily, another Hong Kong-based media company-- Stand News-- has announced that it is halting operation after seven years and removing all contents.

This comes hours after a police raid and seven arrests on Wednesday. The authorities have frozen the assets worth HK$61 million, Hong Kong Free Press reported.

Earlier in the day, more than 200 national security police officers were deployed to raid the offices of Stand News.

As many as seven current or former senior staff members of the Hong Kong online media company were arrested on suspicion of breaching the colonial-era Crimes Ordinance by conspiring to publish seditious publications, the publication added.

This development comes a day as Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai and six other former staff members of the tabloid Apple Daily are set to face an additional sedition charge, under the Beijing-imposed national security law.

( With inputs from ANI )