Hong Kong media outlet Stand News to close after police raid

The most prominent pro-democracy media outlet still operating in Hong Kong, Stand News, said it will shut down after police raided its offices, froze its assets and arrested senior journalists and former board members including pop star Denise Ho.

Activists warned this approach could be used to criminalise almost any critical reporting on the Hong Kong government, and the UN and media watchdogs CPJ and RSF condemned the crackdown as an attack on press freedom.

The shuttering of Stand News came just months after a similar raid and asset freeze forced the closure of popular pro-democracy tabloid Apple Daily, which was owned by now-jailed media tycoon Jimmy Lai.

Afterwards, in an apparent effort to protect its future, Stand News took down most of its commentary section and halted donations. The board members also stepped down, but none of those moves were enough to stave off a legal case.

Police also searched the home of news editor Ronson Chan, who is head of the Hong Kong Journalists Association. He said they released him without charge, but took his phone, computer and other electronic devices.

Hong Kong was promised free speech in the handover agreement from British colonial rule in 1997, among other rights enshrined as part of its semi-autonomous status, and until two years ago it had a thriving media operating in both English and Cantonese.

Video from the scene of the raid on Stand News, whose reporters said they were barred from filming police operations themselves, showed officers taking boxes away. They later confirmed HK $61m (£6m) of Stand News assets had been frozen, the largest such amount targeted under the national security law.

Stand News was founded in the wake of the 2014 student-led Umbrella movement, successor to another pro-democracy website, House News, and was highly respected both in the city and beyond.