Hong Kong's news site shuts down after raid

Hong Kong, December 29

A vocal pro-democracy website in Hong Kong shut down on Wednesday after police raided its office and arrested six current and former editors and board members in a continuing crackdown on dissent in the semi-autonomous Chinese city.

Stand News said in a statement that its website and social media were no longer being updated and would be taken down. It said all employees had been dismissed.

Police raided Stand News’ office earlier in the day after arresting the six, including popular singer and activist Denise Ho, a former board member, on charges of conspiracy to publish a seditious publication.

More than 200 officers were involved in the search, the police said.

They had a warrant to seize relevant journalistic materials under a national security law enacted last year.

The police did not identify who was arrested, but Hong Kong’s South China Morning Post newspaper reported they were one current and one former editor of Stand News, and four former board members, including Ho and former lawmaker Margaret Ng. — AP

Pro-democracy web portal

Stand News was one of the last remaining openly critical voices in Hong Kong following the shuttering of the Apple Daily newspaper, which closed after its publisher, Jimmy Lai, and top editors were arrested and its assets frozen.