National security police arrest veteran journalist

Veteran journalist Allan Au Ka-lun has been arrested by national security police for allegedly conspiring to publish seditious material.

It is believed the case is linked to his columns in the now-defunct pro-democracy online Stand News, where seven management members were arrested for conspiring to publish seditious material after a raid in December.

Au, 54, a consultant at the Chinese University of Hong Kong's journalism school, was arrested at his Lai King home yesterday morning and taken to Kwai Chung Police Station.

He had not been charged by late last night, though police said during the day they arrested a 54-year-old man in Kwai Chung for conspiracy to publish seditious material. An investigation was underway and further arrests were possible.

About 10 of Au's columns were published by Stand News, which was shuttered after December's raid by about 200 national security police officers.

But the articles were deleted after the outlet was forced to close and its assets were frozen along with the arrests.

Among those arrested were two former Stand News chief editors - Chung Pui-kuen and Patrick Lam Shiu-tung.

They were charged and remain in jail custody after their bail applications were rejected at the end of December.

The two will appear at the West Kowloon Magistrates' Court tomorrow for mention.

Soon after Stand News' closure, Au - a Knight fellow at Stanford University and with a doctorate from CUHK - began to write "Good morning" each day on his Facebook page to confirm his safety.

Au was a reporter, producer and executive producer with TVB news for nearly two decades and a radio host at public broadcaster RTHK from 2010 until last year.

He was one of the most experienced columnists in Hong Kong, writing in various media outlets.

But Au was axed from RTHK last June amid a government-directed overhaul after hosting current affairs program Open Line, Open View for 11 years.

He also published a book about censorship in Hong Kong entitled Freedom Under 20 Shades of Shadow, though all his works were removed from public libraries in November.

The Hong Kong Journalists Association voiced "sincere concern" about Au's arrest.

"The HKJA urges the police to give details of the case as soon as possible and also demands the government safeguard Hong Kong citizens' freedom of speech and press as stipulated in the Basic Law," it added.

Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor said freedom of speech and the press are protected under the Basic Law, and that safeguard was in the national security law brought in on June 30, 2020.

Chief executive hopeful John Lee Ka-chiu refused to comment on the Au case but said: "Not a single word of the Basic Law has been changed since the first day of the handover in 1997.

"As long as it fits into the legal framework there will be sufficient freedom [of speech and the press]."