HONG KONG: Hong Kong pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily increased its print run more than fivefold to 500,000 copies as residents lined up Friday to buy the paper in a show of support for beleaguered press freedoms, a day after police arrested five top editors and executives.
The raid on the paper’s offices by hundreds of police and security agents — along with the freezing of $2.3 million worth of its assets — marked the first time a sweeping national security law has been used against the media. It was the latest sign of a widening crackdown on civil liberties in the semi-autonomous city, which has long cherished freedoms that don’t exist elsewhere in China.
Police said the editors were arrested on suspicion of foreign collusion to endanger national security, based on over 30 articles that authorities said had called for international sanctions against China and Hong Kong.
On Friday, the National Security Department charged two men with collusion with a foreign country to endanger national security, according to a government statement. The two will appear in court on Saturday.
It did not name them, but the South China Morning Post newspaper cited an unnamed source saying they are Apply Daily’s chief editor Ryan Law and Cheung Kim-hung, the CEO of Apple Daily’s publisher Next Digital. The other three were being detained for investigation.
With anti-government protests silenced, most of the city’s prominent pro-democracy activists in jail and many others fleeing abroad, people snapped up copies at newsstands and in convenience stores.
“There are lots of injustices in Hong Kong already. I think there are a lot of things we cannot do anymore,” said resident Lisa Cheung. “Buying a copy is all what we can do. When the law cannot protect Hong Kong people anymore, we are only left to do what we can.”
The front page of Friday’s edition splashed images of the five editors and executives led away in handcuffs. Police also confiscated 44 hard drives worth of news material. A quote from Cheung, the arrested CEO of Next Digital, said “Hang in there, everyone.”
Another resident, William Chan, said he bought a copy of the paper as a show of support.
“It was such a groundless arrest and suppressed freedom of the press,” he said.
The national security law was imposed after massive protests in 2019 challenged Beijing’s rule by calling for broader democratic freedoms. It outlaws subversion, secession, terrorism and collusion with foreign countries. The maximum penalty for serious offenders is life imprisonment.
Security Minister John Lee had on Thursday warned other journalists to distance themselves from those under investigation at Apple Daily. He said those arrested had used journalistic work to endanger national security and that anyone who was “in cahoots” with them would pay a hefty price.
The United States, which has imposed sanctions against Hong Kong and Chinese officials over the crackdown, strongly condemned the arrests and called for the immediate release of the five arrested.
“We are deeply concerned by Hong Kong authorities’ selective use of the national security law to arbitrarily target independent media organizations,” State Department spokesman Price said, adding that the suspected foreign collusion charges appear to be politically motivated.
“As we all know, exchanging views with foreigners in journalism should never be a crime,” he said.
British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said in a tweet that freedom of the press is one of the rights China had promised to protect for 50 years when Britain handed over Hong Kong in 1997.
“Today’s raids & arrests at Apple Daily in Hong Kong demonstrate Beijing is using the National Security Law to target dissenting voices, not tackle public security,” Raab said.
European Union spokesperson Nabila Massrali said that the arrests “further demonstrate how the National Security Law is being used to stifle media freedom and freedom of expression in Hong Kong.” Media freedom and pluralism are fundamental to Hong Kong’s success under the “one country, two systems” framework, she said.
In Beijing, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian rejected the foreign criticism and defended the government’s action, repeating China’s insistence that the national security targets only a “small group of anti-China elements who disrupted Hong Kong and endangered the national security of the country.”
“No right or freedom, including freedom of the press, can break through the bottom line of national security,” Zhao told reporters at a daily briefing.
“Hong Kong is China’s Hong Kong, Hong Kong affairs are purely China’s internal affairs, and no country, organization or individual has the right to intervene,” he said.
Apple Daily has pledged to readers that it will continue its reporting, and on Thursday night invited members of the media to its printing presses to watch its Friday edition roll off the press in a show of commitment.
Its founder Jimmy Lai is currently serving a 20-month prison sentence on charges of playing a part in unauthorized protests in 2019, and faces further charges under the national security law that could potentially put him away for life.
The paper’s average daily circulation has been around 86,000 copies.
Hong Kong newspaper increases print fivefold after arrests
https://arab.news/zqfa4
Hong Kong newspaper increases print fivefold after arrests
- Hong Kong's Apple Daily prints increased fivefold after the police arrested five top editors and executives.
- On Thursday, police raided the offices of the pro-democracy newspaper, arrested five people and froze $2.3 million worth of assets.
US State Department Arabic spokesperson resigns in opposition to Gaza policy
- Hala Rharrit is at least the third person to resign from the department over the issue
Hala Rharrit was also the Dubai Regional Media Hub’s deputy director and joined the State Department almost two decades ago as a political and human rights officer, the department’s website showed.
“I resigned April 2024 after 18 years of distinguished service in opposition to the United States’ Gaza policy,” she wrote on social media website LinkedIn. A State Department spokesperson, asked about the resignation in Thursday’s press briefing, said the department has channels for its workforce to share views when it disagrees with government policies.
Nearly a month earlier, Annelle Sheline of the State Department’s human rights bureau announced her resignation, and State Department official Josh Paul resigned in October.
A senior official in the US Education Department, Tariq Habash, who is Palestinian-American, had stepped down in January.
The United States has come under mounting criticism internationally and from human rights groups over its support for Israel amid Israel’s ongoing assault in Gaza that has killed tens of thousands and caused a humanitarian crisis.
There have been reports of signs of dissent in the administration of President Joe Biden as deaths continue to grow in the war.
In November, more than 1,000 officials in the US Agency for International Development (USAID), part of the State Department, signed an open letter calling for an immediate ceasefire. Cables criticizing the administration’s policy have also been filed with the State Department’s internal “dissent channel.”
The war has also caused intense discourse and anti-war demonstrations across the United States, Israel’s most important ally.
Palestinian Islamist group Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, killing 1,200 people, according to Israeli tallies. Israel has killed over 34,000 people in Hamas-governed Gaza, according to Gaza’s health ministry, leading to widespread displacement, hunger and genocide allegations that Israel denies.
Burkina Faso suspends BBC, VOA radio broadcasts over killings coverage
- Authorities handed two-week suspension for covering of report accusing the army of extrajudicial killings
- Human Rights Watch report says military executed about 223 villagers, including at least 56 children
LONDON: Burkina Faso has suspended the radio broadcasts of BBC Africa and the US-funded Voice of America (VOA) for two weeks over their coverage of a Human Rights Watch (HRW) report accusing the army of extrajudicial killings, authorities said late on Thursday.
In the report based on its own investigation, the rights watchdog said the West African country’s military summarily executed about 223 villagers, including at least 56 children, in February as part of a campaign against civilians accused of collaborating with jihadist militants.
HRW said the Burkinabe army has repeatedly committed mass atrocities against civilians in the name of fighting terrorism, and it called on authorities to investigate the massacres.
The country’s communication council said HRW’s report contained “peremptory and tendentious” declarations against the army likely to create public disorder and it would suspend the programs of the broadcasters over their coverage of the story.
Authorities also said in a statement they had ordered Internet service providers to suspend access to the websites and other digital platforms of the BBC, VOA and Human Rights Watch from Burkina Faso.
“VOA stands by its reporting about Burkina Faso and intends to continue to fully and fairly cover events in that country,” Acting VOA Director John Lippman said in a statement.
“The Voice of America strictly adheres to the principles of accurate, balanced and comprehensive journalism, therefore, we ask the government of Burkina Faso to reconsider this troubling decision.”
HRW conducted its investigation after a regional prosecutor said in March that about 170 people were executed by unidentified assailants during attacks on the villages of Komsilga, Nodin and Soro.
Burkina Faso is one of several Sahel nations that have been struggling to contain Islamist insurgencies linked to Al-Qaeda and Islamic State that have spread from neighboring Mali since 2012, killing thousands and displacing millions.
Frustrations over authorities’ failure to protect civilians have contributed to two coups in Mali, two in Burkina Faso and one in Niger since 2020.
Russia arrests Forbes reporter over Bucha posts
- Sergei Mingazov was detained with the accusation of spreading false information about the army
MOSCOW: Russia has arrested a journalist from the Russian edition of Forbes magazine for social media reposts over accusations of Russian atrocities in the Ukrainian town of Bucha, his lawyer and Forbes said on Friday.
Rights groups say hundreds of Russians have been arrested, fined and jailed for criticizing Russia’s offensive on Ukraine under tough military censorship laws.
Russian authorities have particularly targeted people for comments on Bucha, the Kyiv suburb where Russian troops have been accused of massacring civilians.
Moscow has rejected those charges and accused Kyiv and the West of staging the scenes of dead civilians and testimonies of torture.
“Sergei Mingazov was detained and is being held in a temporary detention center” in the Far East city of Khabarovsk, the journalist’s lawyer Konstantin Bubon said in a Facebook post.
He faces up to 10 years in prison under charges of spreading “false information,” Bubon said.
“In short, for reposting a publication about the events in Bucha” on a Telegram channel, he added.
His Telegram channel, which has around 430 followers, features a number of reposts from April 2022 that allege Russian troops killed civilians in Bucha.
Russian forces controlled the Kyiv suburb for a month at the start of the campaign.
Pictures of dead civilians found on the streets made front pages around the world, triggering outrage in the West.
Forbes Russia said Friday it had not been able to contact Mingazov.
A Russian reporter was last month sentenced to seven years in jail for articles on alleged Russian war crimes, including at Bucha.
And opposition politician Ilya Yashin is serving eight and a half years in jail on similar charges after discussing the claims in a YouTube video.
Moscow has outlawed criticism of its offensive and has made independent reporting on the campaign effectively illegal.
Numerous foreign and Russian reporters have left the country over the last two years under the fear of arrest.
The Reporters Without Borders advocacy group said Russia arrested 34 journalists during 2023.
They included Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, a US citizen, and joint US-Russian citizen Alsu Kurmasheva — both of whom are still in pre-trial detention.
Saudi Vision 2030 changed everything, says CEO of Publicis Communications KSA
- Adel Baraja brought over 2 decades of global experience
- Role includes overseeing the group’s Saudi operations, fostering talent
DUBAI: Advertising and marketing network Publicis Groupe appointed Adel Baraja as CEO of Publicis Communications Saudi Arabia in late February as part of its efforts to strengthen its presence in the Kingdom.
Publicis Communications is the creative communications arm of the network housing agencies such as Leo Burnett and Saatchi & Saatchi.
The appointment reinforced Publicis Groupe Middle East’s commitment to accelerating growth within Saudi Arabia while enhancing collaboration and expanding capabilities to deliver transformative work for clients.
Baraja brought with him 22 years of global advertising and brand-building experience.
He had started his professional life in engineering before realizing it was not for him.
He told Arab News: “I wanted to be with clients and that’s when I took my first pivot toward client management (and) sales, and I found my calling in marketing.”
He spent his early days working across advertising agencies in Germany, Spain, and Portugal, before returning to Saudi Arabia where he first interacted with Publicis Groupe. At the time he was hoping to find a job at Leo Burnett, but turned out to be a better fit for one of its clients, Saudi Telecom Company.
He then took a break from advertising agencies to work across industries in companies like Dow Chemical and Volkswagen.
And then, he said, came a “critical moment” in his career.
He added: “I never considered (working in) government before, but six months prior Vision 2030 was introduced, and that was everything.
“It was a meticulous plan — a road map towards something that I had never experienced or seen before. So, I got my first role in government in 2017.”
He led the newly established promotion and nation-branding sector at the Saudi Export Development Authority, growing the Saudi Made portfolio of companies from 20 to more than 2,000 companies during his tenure.
He also held the position of deputy minister of investment promotion at the Ministry of Investment before joining Publicis Groupe Middle East.
Communications had always been a “savvy topic” in the Kingdom, but it was heavily focused on and driven by the private sector, he said.
Vision 2030 changed it all, and “the government sector became a big spender in the communication sector and a driver to creativity,” he added.
With these changes, the demand for local talent is higher now than ever before, and fostering that talent is a strong priority for Baraja and Publicis Groupe.
Baraja is tasked with overseeing the integrated growth strategy of Publicis Communications in his new role, as well as working with educational institutions to empower Saudi youth for careers in advertising, media, and digital marketing.
He said that Bassel Kakish, CEO at Publicis Groupe Middle East and Turkiye, told him that the company needs to be developing and fostering local talent, hiring more locally, and ensuring gender equality, training more women in the advertising and creative industries.
Baraja said: “We are competing against other industries to get that share of talent, so we need to promote our industry and our company.”
Looking ahead, the company is investing in the future, which means increased focus on technology through acquisitions such as that of tech company Epsilon in 2020 and e-commerce company Corra in 2023.
Publicis last year announced the acquisition of a full stake in Publicis Sapient AI Labs, an artificial intelligence research and development joint venture launched in 2020 which aims to strengthen Publicis Sapient’s data and AI capabilities.
Baraja added: “That kind of investment shows the focus toward the future and the transformation of the business.”
There is a lot of discussion around AI replacing marketing and agencies, he said, but he believes: “We are well equipped to address this challenge and to prove that we can deliver even better communications, and better and well-designed campaigns and media performances.”
TikTok CEO to fight US ban law
WASHINGTON: TikTok’s chief executive said on Wednesday that the company expects to win a legal challenge to block legislation signed into law by US President Joe Biden that he said would ban the popular short video app used by 170 million Americans.
“Rest assured — we aren’t going anywhere,” CEO Shou Zi Chew said in a video posted moments after Biden signed the bill that gives China-based ByteDance 270 days to divest TikTok’s US assets or face a ban. “The facts and the Constitution are on our side and we expect to prevail again.”
Biden’s signing sets a Jan. 19 deadline for a sale — one day before his term is set to expire — but he could extend the deadline by three months if he determines ByteDance is making progress. Biden is seeking a second term against former President Donald Trump.
In 2020, Trump was blocked by the courts in his bid to ban TikTok and Chinese-owned WeChat, a unit of Tencent, in the United States.
Chew added: “Make no mistake — this is a ban on TikTok.” He emphasized that TikTok would continue to operate as the company challenges the restrictions.
Driven by widespread worries among US lawmakers that China could access Americans’ data or surveil them with the app, the bill was overwhelmingly passed late on Tuesday by the US Senate. The US House of Representatives approved it on Saturday.
The four-year battle over TikTok is a significant front in a war over the internet and technology between Washington and Beijing. Last week, Apple said China had ordered it to remove Meta Platforms’ WhatsApp and Threads from its App Store in China over Chinese national security concerns.
TikTok is set to challenge the bill on First Amendment grounds and TikTok users are also expected to again take legal action. A US judge in Montana in November blocked a state ban on TikTok, citing free-speech grounds.
The American Civil Liberties Union said banning or requiring divestiture of TikTok would “set an alarming global precedent for excessive government control over social media platforms.”
However, the new legislation is likely to give the Biden administration a stronger legal footing to ban TikTok if ByteDance fails to divest the app, experts say.
If ByteDance failed to divest TikTok, app stores operated by Apple, Alphabet’s Google and others could not legally offer TikTok or provide web hosting services to ByteDance-controlled applications or TikTok’s website.
The bill would also give the White House new tools to ban or force the sale of other foreign-owned apps it deems to be security threats.
Democratic Senator Ron Wyden said he was concerned the bill “provides broad authority that could be abused by a future administration to violate Americans’ First Amendment rights.”
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump said on Monday that President Joe Biden was “pushing” for a ban on TikTok and would be the one responsible if a ban were imposed, urging voters to take notice.
Biden’s re-election campaign plans to continue using TikTok, a campaign official said on Wednesday. Trump’s campaign has not joined TikTok.
Biden signed legislation in late 2022 that barred US government employees from using TikTok on government phones.
