Hong Kong (AFP)

Hong Kong pro-democracy tabloid Apple Daily is under threat.

At a time when its owner, newspaper mogul Jimmy Lai, is behind bars, many journalists are wondering if they will be next.

Every day, the threats are made more and more pressing and some fear that the days of everyday life, born 26 years ago in this city which wanted to be a haven for press freedom, are no longer numbered.

"I am facing the worst crisis since I took office more than three years ago," Ryan Law told AFP.

A few days after this interview, the assets of Mr Lai, the owner of the media group Next Digital Limited, which publishes the Apple Daily, were frozen by the authorities for violating the national security law.

Having entered the Apple Daily twenty years ago, Mr. Law does not intend to give up.

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"Some colleagues are wondering if Apple will end up shutting down when the CEO or I are arrested," he said.

In response, he reminds them that "Apple is still there even after Mr. Lai's arrest."

- Anxiety climate -

He recently received five letters of resignation, which attests to the anxiety-provoking climate weighing on the editorial staff.

In a context of repression against the pro-democracy opposition following the vast protest movement of 2019, the Chinese authorities have not hidden their desire to see Apple Daily and Next Digital close.

The tabloid, created in 1995 by Mr. Lai, has given unwavering support to the pro-democracy movement and has always been very critical of Beijing and the leaders of the territory.

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In China, the media in the hands of the authorities qualify the wealthy magnate as a "traitor", accusing him of being the instigator of the huge protest movement.

Beijing has made no secret of its desire to see Apple Daily shut down and Mr. Lai be silenced.

Hong Kong Police Chief Chris Tang also accused the daily of publishing "false information".

The 73-year-old press boss is currently serving a 14-month prison sentence for taking part in two protests in 2019 and is the subject of two other proceedings in connection with rallies.

He is also accused of "colluding with foreign forces" for allegedly advocating foreign sanctions against Hong Kong and the Chinese rulers, for which he faces life imprisonment.

In an interview with AFP last year, the magnate admitted that only his fortune allowed the Apple Daily to survive.

With the freezing of its assets, the newspaper estimates to be able to hold only 9 to 10 months.

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Although this title remains the most popular in the city, like other print newspapers, its circulation has collapsed, from around 400,000 copies in the 1990s to only 80,000 today.

All companies dependent on the Chinese market have long avoided buying advertising space in this daily.

- "We are the only ones" -

Zoe, a reporter for more than five years at the Apple Daily, feels immense pressure.

"Morale is rather low", she testifies under a pseudonym in order to express herself more freely.

"We have the impression that something is approaching us (...). I fear that one day soon I will no longer be able to work in the press".

If Hong Kong remains the regional headquarters of many international media, the city continues to lose places in the world ranking of press freedom and local newspapers are showing less and less criticism of Beijing.

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For Zoe, who does not hide having thought of resigning, Apple Daily remains the exception.

"I have worked in a number of editorial offices and so far, Apple is the freest that I have known," said the journalist who said that she could not "abandon" the newspaper "at a difficult time".

Last year, Mr. Lai's arrest under the Security Act marked the entire newsroom where more than 200 police officers participated in a search.

Mr. Law's first instinct was to ask journalists to broadcast live footage of the search.

"I told myself that we had to report this information first, because only we can do it," he recalls.

© 2021 AFP