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Who is Jimmy Lai Wiki (Arrest of Hong Kong Media Tycoon), Bio, Age, Net Worth, Instagram, Twitter & More Facts

Jimmy Lai Wiki – Biography

Biography: Jimmy Lai, the founder and majority owner of Next Digital, which publishes the Apple Daily, was arrested in Hong Kong on Monday morning under the Chinese national security law on 30 June. The National People’s Congress in Beijing first announced its intention to pass the law, Mr. Lai predicted that he would be arrested under the law.

Why Jimmy Lai Arrested

Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai was arrested for alleged violations of the city’s new national security law in the highest-profile arrest since Beijing enacted the law in June.

The move seems to contribute to the growing tension between China and the US last week, which imposed sanctions on Hong Kong and Chinese officials responsible for the region’s pro-democracy movement.

According to the entrepreneur’s close aide, Mark Simon, apart from Mr. Lai’s, six people were detained by police on Monday morning, including his two sons and other executives of Next Digital, Mr. Lai’s media group.

 

About Jimmy Lai Live Video and Publish Photos

Mr. Lai’s Apple Daily published photos and live videos of several officers who applied to Next Digital’s multi-storey offices and started their search.

Police said they arrested seven people on suspicion of committing crimes, including collaborating with foreign countries or forces to endanger national security. They did not reveal the names of the persons arrested.

The Hong Kong government pressured local activists through arrests after the national security law came into force, or by blocking pro-democracy candidates from participating in local elections.

The US and affiliated countries condemned the Hong Kong and Chinese governments over the law. US President Donald Trump imposed sanctions on 11 officials, including Hong Kong’s CEO Carrie Lam, last week. Previously, it reclaimed the city’s special commercial status, which had exempted the region from sanctions imposed on mainland China.

Who were Arrested along with Jimmy Lai

Jimmy Lai, the outspoken publisher of the Apple Daily, Hong Kong’s widely read pro-democracy newspaper, was arrested Monday on suspicion of foreign collusion under a new national security law, expanding Beijing’s crackdown on the former British colony.

According to the firm’s director, Mark Simon, the police arrested Mr. Lai with his two sons and four employees. In response to an interrogation, the Hong Kong Police Force said seven people had been arrested on suspicion of violations.

The arrest of Jimmy Lai Incident Detail

Officers arrived at the home of Lai and her sons, Mark Simon, a close assistant and senior executive at Lai’s Next Digital media group, said in a tweet. Police were executing search warrants, Simon added. He said the alleged crime was foreign collusion. Next Digital is the parent company of Apple Daily, a Beijing-critical pro-democracy news outlet that Lai founded in 1995.

Soon after, more than 200 police officers entered Next Digital offices, according to the company’s Facebook page and a live feed of the raid, and searched the Apple Daily newsroom. They rummaged through reporters’ desks and papers, told employees to show identification badges, and warned journalists to stop filming and photographing the raid.

The dramatic events marked the most acute use by authorities of the new security law and highlighted the growing threat to pro-democracy activists and journalists in Hong Kong, where freedom of the press is supposed to enjoy constitutional protection.

In a statement, the Hong Kong Police said they had arrested seven men between the ages of 39 and 72 on suspicion of violating security law, without naming the suspects. At a press conference, to which the police prohibited some reporters from attending without a clear reason, Li Kwai-wah, chief superintendent of the force’s national security department, said that they had seized 25 boxes of materials and that the reporters Apple Daily can “get on with their work. ”

US sanctions Hong Kong chief and 10 others accused of repression in the city

The arrests come after the U.S. Treasury Department imposed sanctions last week on Hong Kong Chief Executive Officer Carrie Lam and 10 other officials, including Beijing’s envoy to the city, the police commissioner and his predecessor, for destroying political freedoms in Hong Kong. The city government called the sanctions “shameless and despicable” and said it would support Chinese countermeasures.

“I was expecting this day to come, but I didn’t expect it to come at this time, after the US sanctions,” said an Apple Daily reporter, speaking on condition of anonymity out of fear for his safety. “These arrests are for revenge. They are targeting us, a media outlet that is the most open against the Hong Kong and Beijing government. ”

A senior reporter at Apple Daily, who also requested anonymity to protect her safety, added that Lai’s arrest was “just the first step.”

“Closing Apple Daily and threatening other media organizations is the goal, so that no one dares to tell the truth in the end. It is not excessive to say that this is the end of Hong Kong’s press freedom, ”the person said.

Apple Daily is among the most widely read media outlets in Hong Kong and Next Digital employs thousands of people. Several Next Digital executives were among those arrested Monday.

Shares in Next Digital briefly plunged after Monday’s arrests. But supporters of the Hong Kong democracy movement were quick to hear calls on social media to buy the company’s stock, causing Next Digital to skyrocket 300 percent at one point, and coined another shape in the process. of protest.

Beijing has called Hong Kong’s pro-democracy movement a Western plot to undermine the ruling Chinese Communist Party, rather than a genuine call by the Hong Kong people for greater freedoms and the preservation of the territory’s promised autonomy in the face of Beijing’s invasion. .

The new security law imposes maximum life sentences for crimes such as subverting state power, defending Hong Kong’s independence, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces. It gives authorities broad powers to search premises and electronic devices and confiscate servers, even from media organizations.

Hong Kong’s media industry had been bracing for the shock since the law took effect on July 1. The city has long been a regional base for Asian operations for media such as the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal.

Last month, the New York Times said it would move some operations to Seoul, citing uncertainty and fears about the new law. Media organizations have recently faced delays in renewing visas for Hong Kong-based journalists, with little clarity from the government.