The Taiwan edition of the pro-democracy daily "Apple Daily" finds a buyer
Journalists from the “Apple Daily” brandish one of the latest editions of the Hong Kong newspaper, in June 2021 (photo illustration).
AFP - DANIEL SUEN
Text by: RFI Follow
2 mins
The Taiwan edition of Hong Kong's pro-democracy daily
Apple Daily
, closed for a year, has found a buyer and will keep most of its staff, the company announced on Wednesday (June 8th), pledging to continue to "
rise up against all injustice
".
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Hong Kong's Apple Daily
was
forced to shut down in June 2021, after a drastic national security law was voted the year before that China imposed on Hong Kong to regain control of the territory. after the 2019 pro-democracy protests. The newspaper had previously suffered a search of its newsroom, the arrest of five of its leaders and the freezing of its assets.
More than a thousand people, including 700 journalists, were left jobless.
Liquidation mid-December 2021
The Apple Daily
's parent company
, Next Digital Limited, was liquidated in mid-December 2021. The daily's founder, media mogul Jimmy Lai, is being sued for harming national security, as six former executives of his newspaper.
A financially independent subsidiary, the Taiwanese edition for its part continued to appear but stopped its paper version in May, 18 years after its foundation by Jimmy Lai today in prison.
In a press release on its website on Wednesday, the
Apple Daily
of Taiwan explains that it has "
completed a sale
", adding that the identity of the buyer will be announced later.
“
Most of our colleagues will be transferred to the new employer and will retain their position
,” assures Ip Yut-kin, legal representative of the Taiwanese subsidiary quoted by the press release, specifying that he will be “
honorary president
”.
“
The original vocation of the
Apple Daily
cannot be forgotten
”
“
Reviewing what happened over the past year, our headquarters in Hong Kong suffered a storm unprecedented in the history of world information
,” the statement said.
The freezing in Hong Kong of the assets of the
Apple Daily
has cut off the supply of the Taiwan edition, he continues, promising that "
the original vocation of the
Apple Daily
cannot be forgotten
" and that "
it will always rise up against all injustice
”.
(
with AFP
)
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