Police officers collecting evidence at the Next Digital's headquarters. The Next Media Trade Union has condemned the police for intimidating the media and infringing on press freedom during the search at the Next Digital's headquarters at the Tseung Kwan O Industrial Estate this morning. In a statement today, the union said some police officers had searched documents and editorial materials before showing the search warrant to Apple Daily chief editor, Ryan Law Wai-kwong, and his lawyers, and the officers still turned a deaf ear even when journalists asked them to stop. The union cites Law as saying that the search warrant states that the search does not include any editorial materials and strongly condemned the police for touching and reading editorial materials without authorization, which undermined the principle of confidentiality of media sources. It also said the police abused their powers as they knowingly searched the editorial department, and that a search by law enforcement officers on a media outlet was an extremely rare and serious incident in Hong Kong's history, adding that it has a catastrophic impact.

Source: The Standard August 10, 2020 07:41 UTC