US denounces 'unjust' arrest of six Hong Kong journalists; calls for immediate release

The United States has condemned the raids by the Hong Kong Police on the city’s online news outlet and termed the arrest of six journalists as "unjust". Following the Wednesday raid on the Stand News office and arrest of journalists over ‘sedition’ and forcing the non-profit media outlet to shut down, the US noted that “Journalism is not sedition”. In a statement, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called for the immediate release of media personnel who have been “unjustly detained and charged”.

Blinken also noted that freedom of expression and access to information “provided by an independent media is critical to prosperous and secure societies.” Denouncing the arrests, the US Secretary of State said that by “silencing” independent media, China and the city’s local authorities “undermine Hong Kong’s credibility and viability. A confident government that is unafraid of the truth embraces a free press.”

Blinken said, “The Hong Kong government’s December 29 raid and arrest of seven senior staff at Stand News have forced yet another of the few remaining bastions of free and independent media in Hong Kong to cease operations.  Journalism is not sedition.”

“We call on PRC and Hong Kong authorities to cease targeting Hong Kong’s free and independent media and to immediately release those journalists and media executives who have been unjustly detained and charged,” he added.

Six arrested for 'conspiracy to publish seditious publications'

The latest crackdown of the independent media in the semi-autonomous region witnessed Hong Kong Police on 29 December held six persons, including the senior staff of an online pro-democracy media outlet, Stand News allegedly for “conspiracy to publish seditious publications”. The news outlet is now shut down. According to a Hong Kong Free Press report, more than 200 national security police officers were deployed to raid the offices of the non-profit online news outlet. 

Six current and former senior staff members were also arrested on the suspicion of “breaching the colonial-era Crimes Ordinance by conspiring to publish seditious publications”, stated the report. The Wednesday raid of the online news platform office further raised concerns about the freedom of speech and that of the media in the former British colony which came under Chinese rule in 1997 with the promise that individual rights would be protected and freedom would be practised. 

(IMAGE: AP)