Forwarded from 📡Guardians of Hong Kong
#WhiteTerror #FrozenAsset
#Reuters: HK’s Pro-democracy Newspaper #AppleDaily to shut within days according to #JimmyLai adviser
//Hong Kong pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily will be forced to shut “in a matter of days” after authorities froze the company’s assets under a national security law, Mark Simon, an adviser to jailed owner Jimmy Lai told Reuters on June 21, 2021.
The closure of Apple Daily would undermine the former British colony's reputation as an open and free society and send a warning to other companies that could be accused of colluding with a foreign country, media advocacy groups said.
Next Digital (0282.HK), publisher of the top-selling 26-year-old newspaper, would hold a board meeting on Monday [June 21, 2021] to discuss how to move forward after its lines of credit were frozen, the adviser, Mark Simon, said.
"Vendors tried to put money into our accounts and were rejected," he said by phone from the United States.
"We thought we'd be able to make it to the end of the month. It's just getting harder and harder. It's essentially a matter of days."
Apple Daily said on Sunday the freezing of its assets had left the liberal newspaper with cash for “a few weeks” for normal operations.”
In May, Reuters reported exclusively that Hong Kong's security chief had sent letters to tycoon Lai and branches of HSBC and Citibank threatening up to seven years' jail for any dealings with the billionaire's accounts in the city...
Authorities are also prosecuting three companies related to Apple Daily for alleged collusion with a foreign country and have frozen HK$18 million ($2.3 million) of their assets...
Simon told Reuters it had now become impossible to conduct banking operations in the global financial hub.
"We can't bank. Some vendors tried to do that as a favour ... and it was rejected."
The newspaper has come under increasing pressure since owner and Beijing critic Lai, who is now in jail, was arrested under the national security law last August and has since had some of his assets frozen...
Simon said some reporters had received threatening phone calls from unknown sources.
"Our staff are now just worried about personal safety," he said...//
Read full article:
https://www.reuters.com/business/retail-consumer/exclusive-adviser-jailed-hk-tycoon-jimmy-lai-says-apple-daily-shut-within-days-2021-06-21/
Source: Reuters #Jun21
#PoliceState #NationalSecurityLaw #PressFreedom #HongKongMedia #Journalism #PoliticalSuppression #MarkSimon #FreeJimmy
====
Related stories:
[June 17, 2021] HK Police Raids Apple Daily Again and Arrests 3 Editors and 2 Executives
https://publielectoral.lat/guardiansofhongkong/30130
"We Will Press On": Apple Daily Prints 500,000 Copies Despite Police Raid
https://publielectoral.lat/guardiansofhongkong/30142
Hongkongers Rush to Support Apple Daily After Midnight
https://publielectoral.lat/guardiansofhongkong/30140
[June 18, 2021] HK Police Charges Apple Daily Editor-in-chief and #NextDigital CEO with #NationalSecurityLaw
https://publielectoral.lat/guardiansofhongkong/30149
#Reuters: HK’s Pro-democracy Newspaper #AppleDaily to shut within days according to #JimmyLai adviser
//Hong Kong pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily will be forced to shut “in a matter of days” after authorities froze the company’s assets under a national security law, Mark Simon, an adviser to jailed owner Jimmy Lai told Reuters on June 21, 2021.
The closure of Apple Daily would undermine the former British colony's reputation as an open and free society and send a warning to other companies that could be accused of colluding with a foreign country, media advocacy groups said.
Next Digital (0282.HK), publisher of the top-selling 26-year-old newspaper, would hold a board meeting on Monday [June 21, 2021] to discuss how to move forward after its lines of credit were frozen, the adviser, Mark Simon, said.
"Vendors tried to put money into our accounts and were rejected," he said by phone from the United States.
"We thought we'd be able to make it to the end of the month. It's just getting harder and harder. It's essentially a matter of days."
Apple Daily said on Sunday the freezing of its assets had left the liberal newspaper with cash for “a few weeks” for normal operations.”
In May, Reuters reported exclusively that Hong Kong's security chief had sent letters to tycoon Lai and branches of HSBC and Citibank threatening up to seven years' jail for any dealings with the billionaire's accounts in the city...
Authorities are also prosecuting three companies related to Apple Daily for alleged collusion with a foreign country and have frozen HK$18 million ($2.3 million) of their assets...
Simon told Reuters it had now become impossible to conduct banking operations in the global financial hub.
"We can't bank. Some vendors tried to do that as a favour ... and it was rejected."
The newspaper has come under increasing pressure since owner and Beijing critic Lai, who is now in jail, was arrested under the national security law last August and has since had some of his assets frozen...
Simon said some reporters had received threatening phone calls from unknown sources.
"Our staff are now just worried about personal safety," he said...//
Read full article:
https://www.reuters.com/business/retail-consumer/exclusive-adviser-jailed-hk-tycoon-jimmy-lai-says-apple-daily-shut-within-days-2021-06-21/
Source: Reuters #Jun21
#PoliceState #NationalSecurityLaw #PressFreedom #HongKongMedia #Journalism #PoliticalSuppression #MarkSimon #FreeJimmy
====
Related stories:
[June 17, 2021] HK Police Raids Apple Daily Again and Arrests 3 Editors and 2 Executives
https://publielectoral.lat/guardiansofhongkong/30130
"We Will Press On": Apple Daily Prints 500,000 Copies Despite Police Raid
https://publielectoral.lat/guardiansofhongkong/30142
Hongkongers Rush to Support Apple Daily After Midnight
https://publielectoral.lat/guardiansofhongkong/30140
[June 18, 2021] HK Police Charges Apple Daily Editor-in-chief and #NextDigital CEO with #NationalSecurityLaw
https://publielectoral.lat/guardiansofhongkong/30149
Reuters
EXCLUSIVE HK’s Apple Daily to shut within days, says Jimmy Lai adviser
Hong Kong pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily will be forced to shut "in a matter of days" after authorities froze the company's assets under a national security law, an adviser to jailed owner Jimmy Lai told Reuters on Monday.