Hong Kong authorities file new charges against Jimmy Lai and six other Apple Daily executives in fresh media crackdown
Taipei, December 29, 2021 – Hong Kong authorities must immediately and unconditionally drop all charges against Jimmy Lai, founder of the Next Digital Limited media company and the pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily, as well as six former Next Digital and Apple Daily staff, and release them immediately, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. On…
‘Fear and anxiety’ rules among local journalists, Hong Kong Journalists Association finds
The Hong Kong Journalists Association (HKJA) found that authorities use the national security law to silence journalists, systematically limit the media’s ability to access to public databases, and force public and private broadcasters to minimize their political content and, in the case of at least one public broadcaster, spread government propaganda in its annual report,…
Hong Kong’s Apple Daily newspaper to cease publication
Washington, D.C., June 23, 2021 — In response to today’s decision by Hong Kong-based media company Next Digital to cease publication of the Apple Daily newspaper, the Committee to Protect Journalists issued the following statement: “The Next Digital board’s decision to cease publication of the pro-democracy Apple Daily newspaper is the result of the Chinese…
CPJ board honors Hong Kong’s Jimmy Lai with Gwen Ifill Press Freedom Award
New York, June 21, 2021– The Committee to Protect Journalists today said it will honor Jimmy Lai, the imprisoned founder of Hong Kong’s Next Digital media company and Apple Daily newspaper, with the 2021 Gwen Ifill Press Freedom Award. The award is presented annually by CPJ’s board of directors to recognize extraordinary and sustained commitment…
Hong Kong media owner Jimmy Lai sentenced to 14 months in prison over 2019 protests
Washington, D.C., April 16, 2021 – In response to a Hong Kong court’s sentencing today of media owner Jimmy Lai to 14 months in prison, the Committee to Protect Journalists issued the following statement: “Forcing a prominent pro-democracy media entrepreneur like Jimmy Lai to spend more than a year in prison and hitting him with…
Hong Kong police charge Apple Daily founder Jimmy Lai with ‘foreign collusion’ under national security law
Taipei, December 11, 2020 – The Hong Kong police force today charged media entrepreneur Jimmy Lai, founder of Next Digital Limited, which owns the Apple Daily newspaper, with collusion with foreign forces under Hong Kong’s new national security law, a charge that carries up to life in prison if convicted, according to the Apple Daily…
Hong Kong court denies bail to Apple Daily founder Jimmy Lai in fraud case
Taipei, December 3, 2020 – Magistrate Victor So Wai Tak of the West Kowloon Courts in Hong Kong today denied bail to media entrepreneur Jimmy Lai on a charge of fraud, according to news reports. He is expected to remain in jail until a court hearing on April 16, 2021, according to the reports. Lai and senior…
Hong Kong journalists struggle to carry on as national security law hits Apple Daily
An unnerving wait for the first impact on journalists of Hong Kong’s new National Security Law came to an abrupt end early yesterday when police arrested Next Digital founder and chair Jimmy Lai, along with four company executives and his two sons, while sending more than a hundred police officers on a raid of Apple…
Hong Kong police arrest Apple Daily founder Jimmy Lai under new National Security Law
Washington, D.C., August 9, 2020–Jimmy Lai, founder of Next Digital, which owns the pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily, was arrested early Monday in Hong Kong under Hong Kong’s new National Security Law for alleged collusion with foreign powers, according to a tweet by Next Digital executive Mark Simon and news reports. “The arrest of media tycoon…
Hong Kong police arrest Next Digital founder Jimmy Lai
Taipei, April 18, 2020–The Committee to Protect Journalists called on Hong Kong authorities to drop all charges against Jimmy Lai, founder and chair of Next Digital, following his arrest this afternoon alongside other pro-democracy advocates on suspicion of participating in an illegal assembly. Lai’s media properties, including the Apple Daily, have actively and sympathetically covered…