Hong Kong media mogul Jimmy Lai, arrested Monday August 10 during a police operation in the name of a security law imposed by China, was released Tuesday evening, while his pro-democracy newspaper, the Apple Daily, posted his will to continue the fight. The septuagenarian emerged free from a Hong Kong police station around midnight (4 p.m. GMT), flanked by his lawyers and in the midst of a crowd of supporters, who hailed his victory.

Jimmy Lai, a wealthy press magnate, was one of 10 people arrested Monday in a wide net against the pro-democracy movement, before about 200 police officers raided the editorial room of his newspaper, very critical of Beijing.

Hong Kong people rushed to newsstands on Tuesday to get the Apple Daily, which had anticipated this request by exceptionally pulling 550,000 copies, against 70,000 in normal times. A restaurateur in the working-class district of Mongkok bought about 50 copies, explaining that he intended to distribute them free of charge to his customers. "Since the government does not want the Apple Daily to survive, we Hong Kong people have to save it ourselves," said the man, calling himself Ng. 

Unprecedented attack on press freedom

"We will fight," the Apple Daily proclaimed Tuesday, a pledge written in bright red in a full-page photo of Jimmy Lai framed by police officers.

His arrest sparked a wave of stock purchases in his Next Digital press group. Between Monday morning and the close of the Stock Exchange Tuesday evening, the title took more than 1,100%. The arrests and search were condemned as "unprecedented" attacks on press freedom, of which Hong Kong was once a stronghold.

Seen as a response by Beijing to months of pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong in 2019, the National Security Law imposed on June 30 gives local authorities new powers to crack down on four types of crimes against the security of the State: subversion, separatism, terrorism and collusion with foreign powers.

Read also >> In Hong Kong, the government promises to "vigorously" apply the national security law

A number of activists for democracy denounce a liberticidal text which, according to them, comes to an end with the principle "One country, two systems", which guaranteed until 2047 to Hong Kong people freedoms unknown in the rest of China.

Concern of the United States

Several foreign leaders have expressed their concern about this new crackdown, among them the head of the American diplomacy Mike Pompeo, whom Jimmy Lai had met last year. The secretary of state said he saw his arrest as "further proof that the Chinese Communist Party has gutted Hong Kong's freedoms and the rights of its people."

As a reminder, Jimmy Lai was arrested for collusion with foreign forces and fraud. An initiative hailed by Beijing, which presented it as "an anti-Chinese troublemaker" having conspired with foreigners to "cause chaos".

Two of his sons were also arrested, as were the young pro-democracy activist Agnes Chow and Wilson Li, a former activist posing as a freelance journalist, working for the British channel ITV News.

With AFP and Reuters

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