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The company’s consultants stated that actions taken under the security law meant that it was unable to obtain approximately US$50 million in funding to pay employees and suppliers.
The Hong Kong democratic newspaper “Apple Daily” will be forced to close “within a few days” because the authorities have used China’s national security law to freeze the company’s assets because it arrested the newspaper’s editor and four other directors. One A consultant was sentenced to jail, tycoon Li Zhiying told Reuters on Monday.
Maxime said by phone in the United States that the company can no longer use its funds and will hold a board meeting on Monday to discuss how to proceed.
“We think we can do it by the end of this month,” Simon told the news agency. “It’s just getting harder. It’s basically a matter of days.”
Even after “Apple Daily” stated on Sunday that its assets had been frozen “for a few weeks” that the newspaper had cash for normal operations, his comments indicated that the closure was imminent. “
The news came two days after the 47-year-old editor Ryan Law and 59-year-old CEO Cheung Kim-hung were denied bail after being accused of colluding with foreign forces under the Security Law.
Last Thursday, three other senior managers were also arrested. 500 police raided the newspaper office This case aroused condemnation from Western countries, human rights organizations and the chief human rights spokesperson of the United Nations.
The three have been released on bail.
Simon told Reuters that it has become impossible to conduct banking business.
“The supplier tried to deposit money into our account, but was rejected. We can’t bank. Some vendors tried to do this to help. We just wanted to find out, but it was rejected,” he said.
Heartbreaking
My friend Max Simon-I have known him for more than 20 years-talks about closing #Apple Daily, In the past year, I was fortunate to write an article for it every week
The world must wake up and take action
This is not about a newspaper
It’s about freedom https://t.co/E6uPlC2f2C
— Benedict Rogers Rogers (@benedictrogers) June 20, 2021
In an earlier interview with the US news channel CNN, Simon said that the company has about US$50 million in available funds, but it was unable to obtain these funds.
Since the arrest of its owner Jimmy Lai under the National Security Act last August, the publisher has faced increasing pressure. This is the first time the company’s headquarters has been raided. According to the National Security Law, 73-year-old Lai is now jailed and facing trial. In May, the authorities also Freeze some assets Some of his assets, who have long criticized Beijing, have also been frozen.
Three companies related to Apple Daily have also been sued for colluding with foreign countries, and the authorities have frozen their assets of 18 million Hong Kong dollars (2.3 million US dollars).
In June last year, China implemented a national security law on Hong Kong, saying it was necessary to restore “stabilization” to the region shaken by large-scale protests in 2019, some of which became violent.
This Broad law Criminalizing acts such as subversion, sedition, collusion with foreign forces, and secession of the country may be sentenced to life imprisonment, but critics say that since his arrest, many of the more than 100 democratic politicians and activists have been arrested. Ten democratic politicians and activists used it to suppress legitimate political debates. Take effect.
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