“Let's fight, let's fight! ". Freed on bail after his arrest under Hong Kong's new national security law, media mogul Jimmy Lai on Wednesday appealed to his journalists to resist. From the newsroom of his daily, the 71-year-old press boss added: "We have the support of the people of Hong Kong, we cannot let them down."
The extremely wealthy leader of the Next Digital group is one of ten people arrested by the police on Monday as part of a vast crackdown against the pro-democracy movement. These arrests have aroused the indignation of the international community which sees in them the end of freedoms Hong Kong, a city which has been for decades the regional headquarters of many international media.
"We must continue our work"
Jimmy Lai was arrested on suspicion of collusion with foreign forces, one of the offenses covered by the new security legislation which came into force at the end of June, and of fraud. His press group is resolutely pro-democracy and has two titles critical of the Chinese regime, the Apple Daily and the magazine Next.
On Wednesday, it was to staff cheers that he toured the Apple Daily newsroom a few hours after being released on bail after 40 hours in police custody.
On a video broadcast live on Facebook by his reporters, he asked his editorial staff to keep in their articles the tone that angered China and the pro-Beijing camp in Hong Kong. He admitted that it was becoming "more and more difficult" to manage a media group in Hong Kong.
“But we must continue our work,” he added. "Fortunately, I was not sent back to the continent," he said, showing the dark humor that characterizes him.
The new law effectively ends Hong Kong's judicial independence so far in force in the semi-autonomous territory.
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