<p>Hong Kong police raided the offices of pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily on Thursday morning and arrested five executives under the city's national security law, including its chief editor Ryan Law.</p>.<p>The arrests are the latest police operation targeting the popular tabloid and its now jailed owner Jimmy Lai.</p>.<p>The paper has long been a thorn in Beijing's side and has unapologetically supported the financial hub's pro-democracy movement.</p>.<p>Police said five executives were arrested "for collusion with a foreign country or with external elements to endanger national security".</p>.<p>A police source confirmed to AFP that all five were executives from Next Digital, Apple Daily's parent company.</p>.<p>Apple Daily said Law was among those arrested.</p>.<p>The paper broadcast live footage of the police raid on its Facebook account. Officers could be seen cordoning off the complex and walking through the building.</p>.<p>"They arrived around 7am this morning, our building is besieged," an unnamed reporter said in a live commentary with the broadcast. "Now we can see them moving boxes of materials onto their truck."</p>.<p>"Police are restricting us from using quite a lot of our equipment. But we can still keep this live camera on and our website will keep updating," the voice added.</p>.<p>The security law introduced last June is the speartip of a sweeping crackdown on Beijing's critics in Hong Kong since 2019's huge democracy protests.</p>.<p>It has criminalised much dissent, given China jurisdiction over some cases and awarded authorities wide-ranging investigation powers.</p>.<p>Those convicted of a national security crime face up to life in prison and the majority are denied bail after arrest.</p>.<p>Thursday's raid was the second on Apple Daily in less than a year.</p>.<p>Apple Daily's billionaire owner Lai, 73, was charged with collusion after hundreds of officers searched the paper's newsroom last August.</p>.<p>He is currently serving multiple jail sentences for attending various pro-democracy protests that rocked Hong Kong two years ago.</p>.<p>Apple Daily has staunchly backed Hong Kong's pro-democracy cause, including the huge and often violent protests that swept the international financial hub in 2019.</p>.<p>Beijing has made no secret of its desire to see the paper's voice tamed, with state media routinely describing Lai as a "traitor" and a "black hand" and senior communist party officials declaring him guilty of national security crimes.</p>.<p>Last month, police used the national security law to freeze Lai's bank accounts and his majority shares in Next Digital.</p>.<p>It was the first time Hong Kong authorities have used the law to freeze shares of a listed company's majority shareholder.</p>.<p>More than 100 people have been arrested under the law, many of them the city's best-known democracy activists. Others have fled overseas.</p>.<p>China says the law was needed to return stability to the financial hub.</p>.<p>Critics, including many western nations, say the crackdown has shredded Beijing's "One Country, Two Systems" promise that Hong Kong could maintain certain liberties and autonomy after its 1997 handover.</p>.<p>A shadow of fear has hung over the newsroom since Lai's arrest with reporters and executives fearing further police action was in the works.</p>.<p>In an interview with AFP last month, chief editor Law struck a defiant tone.</p>.<p>He admitted that the paper was in "crisis" since the jailing of its owner but said his reporters were determined to press on with publishing.</p>.<p>At a recent townhall meeting, staff asked Law what they should do if the police came back to arrest him.</p>.<p>He had a simple reply: "Broadcast it live."</p>
<p>Hong Kong police raided the offices of pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily on Thursday morning and arrested five executives under the city's national security law, including its chief editor Ryan Law.</p>.<p>The arrests are the latest police operation targeting the popular tabloid and its now jailed owner Jimmy Lai.</p>.<p>The paper has long been a thorn in Beijing's side and has unapologetically supported the financial hub's pro-democracy movement.</p>.<p>Police said five executives were arrested "for collusion with a foreign country or with external elements to endanger national security".</p>.<p>A police source confirmed to AFP that all five were executives from Next Digital, Apple Daily's parent company.</p>.<p>Apple Daily said Law was among those arrested.</p>.<p>The paper broadcast live footage of the police raid on its Facebook account. Officers could be seen cordoning off the complex and walking through the building.</p>.<p>"They arrived around 7am this morning, our building is besieged," an unnamed reporter said in a live commentary with the broadcast. "Now we can see them moving boxes of materials onto their truck."</p>.<p>"Police are restricting us from using quite a lot of our equipment. But we can still keep this live camera on and our website will keep updating," the voice added.</p>.<p>The security law introduced last June is the speartip of a sweeping crackdown on Beijing's critics in Hong Kong since 2019's huge democracy protests.</p>.<p>It has criminalised much dissent, given China jurisdiction over some cases and awarded authorities wide-ranging investigation powers.</p>.<p>Those convicted of a national security crime face up to life in prison and the majority are denied bail after arrest.</p>.<p>Thursday's raid was the second on Apple Daily in less than a year.</p>.<p>Apple Daily's billionaire owner Lai, 73, was charged with collusion after hundreds of officers searched the paper's newsroom last August.</p>.<p>He is currently serving multiple jail sentences for attending various pro-democracy protests that rocked Hong Kong two years ago.</p>.<p>Apple Daily has staunchly backed Hong Kong's pro-democracy cause, including the huge and often violent protests that swept the international financial hub in 2019.</p>.<p>Beijing has made no secret of its desire to see the paper's voice tamed, with state media routinely describing Lai as a "traitor" and a "black hand" and senior communist party officials declaring him guilty of national security crimes.</p>.<p>Last month, police used the national security law to freeze Lai's bank accounts and his majority shares in Next Digital.</p>.<p>It was the first time Hong Kong authorities have used the law to freeze shares of a listed company's majority shareholder.</p>.<p>More than 100 people have been arrested under the law, many of them the city's best-known democracy activists. Others have fled overseas.</p>.<p>China says the law was needed to return stability to the financial hub.</p>.<p>Critics, including many western nations, say the crackdown has shredded Beijing's "One Country, Two Systems" promise that Hong Kong could maintain certain liberties and autonomy after its 1997 handover.</p>.<p>A shadow of fear has hung over the newsroom since Lai's arrest with reporters and executives fearing further police action was in the works.</p>.<p>In an interview with AFP last month, chief editor Law struck a defiant tone.</p>.<p>He admitted that the paper was in "crisis" since the jailing of its owner but said his reporters were determined to press on with publishing.</p>.<p>At a recent townhall meeting, staff asked Law what they should do if the police came back to arrest him.</p>.<p>He had a simple reply: "Broadcast it live."</p>