Hong Kong (AFP)

The Hong Kong pro-democracy daily Apple Daily was combative in newsstands Friday morning, the day after a spectacular search of its premises, with a message of defiance to pro-Beijing power on the front page: "We must continue".

The newspaper and its owner, the currently incarcerated press mogul Jimmy Lai, have long been in Beijing's sights for their support for the pro-democracy camp and their recurring criticism of the Chinese leadership.

But the latter now appear determined to muzzle this press organ, as part of the takeover of the former British colony, yet supposed to enjoy a wide autonomy.

More than 500 police officers surrendered Thursday to the daily newspaper for a search which was according to the authorities in connection with articles accused of calling for sanctions against China.

Five of the newspaper's executives, including its editor-in-chief Ryan Law and its managing director Cheung Kim-hung, were arrested on charges of colluding with foreign forces, under the drastic national security law that Beijing imposed on it. 'last summer.

At the end of this search, the journalists returned to the newsroom where many computers and hard drives were missing, which had been seized by the police.

- "Everything has been sold" -

But the editorial staff worked all night, under the eyes of many journalists from other media, to allow the daily created in 1995 to appear on Friday.

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The editor-in-chief decided on a sober one presenting the faces of the five people arrested with a purely informative line: "The national security police raided the Apple, arrested five people, seized 44 hard drives of the editorial staff".

Underneath, in very large yellow letters, it read "We must continue," the phrase Mr. Cheung said to his employees when he was taken away in handcuffs by the police.

The group has decided to print 500,000 copies, which is six times greater than its normal circulation, betting that the Hong Kongers, who mobilized massively in 2019 to support the democratic fight, will snatch this historic number.

And in the popular Mongkok district, dozens of people lined up very early on Friday to buy the newspaper even before it was delivered.

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"Normally, we sell about 60 copies but this time we have sold 1,800," the owner of a kiosk told AFP on condition of anonymity.

"Everything has been sold. We have ordered 3,000 and are waiting to be delivered."

- "A unique voice in Hong Kong" -

Polly, a 40-year-old woman who only gave her first name, said she bought 10.

"For years we have enjoyed freedom of the press, we could say whatever we wanted," she told AFP.

“But in a year, everything has changed,” she continued.

"The situation deteriorated, and it all happened so quickly."

Another customer, Steven Chow, 45, left with three copies.

"We don't have to love, but I believe we have to let them express themselves and allow them to survive. It's important."

The Apple Daily had already been the target of a spectacular raid last summer by hundreds of police officers who had arrested Mr. Lai, a billionaire who made his fortune in clothing.

It was after the handover of the former British colony to China in 1997 that the Apple Daily really became visible.

As many Hong Kong people worried about their future freedoms, he became the voice of supporters of democracy and skeptics of Beijing.

Supporting the 2014 "Umbrella Movement", Mr. Lai became Beijing's pet peeve, which state media routinely called him a "traitor" and "mafia."

The newspaper's support for the massive pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong in 2019 further escalated Beijing's hostility.

The Chinese authorities took advantage of the pandemic in 2020 to initiate an implacable repression against the pro-democracy camp, with the national security law as an essential instrument.

© 2021 AFP