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Final edition of Hong Kong’s Apple Daily could come on Saturday
- Board of directors at operator Next Digital wants the Security Bureau to unfreeze assets so employees can be paid
- Without access to the funds, the tabloid could be forced to end its 26-year run as early as Saturday
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Hong Kong’s embattled Apple Daily could be forced to close down and print its final edition as soon as Saturday if management is unable to convince the Security Bureau to release its assets to pay staff, the Post has learned.
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Dealt a body blow by the latest arrests of its senior executives and freezing of its financial assets for allegedly breaching the national security law, parent company Next Digital will decide on Friday whether to continue operations, according to messages circulating among employees.
If the bureau rejects its request, staff will publish the final stories online just before midnight and print the last edition of the colourful 26-year-old newspaper on Saturday.
Still reeling from the shock of the arrest of its editor-in-chief and four other top executives on Thursday, some employees vowed to keep working for the company until it closed down. But others said the board should make a decision earlier in the week so staff could know their fate, rather than be left in a state of uncertainty.
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Editor-in-chief Ryan Law Wai-kwong and publisher Cheung Kim-hung were charged on Friday with conspiring to collude with foreign forces and remanded in custody. The other three were released on bail without being charged, which some employees had interpreted as a welcome sign that not all was lost.
Authorities have claimed the tabloid published at least 30 articles calling for foreign sanctions on Hong Kong, an offence under the Beijing-imposed security law.
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