RSF appeals to the UN concerning HK media issue

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HK officials banned annual June 4th vigil to commemorate Tiananmen Square Massacre in 1989 (Photo by CNA)

The Apple Daily office in Hong Kong (Photo by CNA)

Cédric Alviani, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) East Asia bureau head (Screenshot from RSF website)

Cédric Alviani, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) East Asia bureau head said RSF appeals to the UN to take immediate action concerning the freezing of Hong Kong media Apple Daily’s assets and arrest of senior staff. He said it will be sometime before the UN discusses the issue but he said he wants to raise the awareness of the international community especially democratic countries in the world to voice concern over the issue of the freezing of the asset of Hong Kong’s Apple Daily which leads to the closure of the newspaper on June 27^th as they are not able to pay the salary of the staff and suppliers. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) submitted an urgent appeal to the United Nations (UN), asking the organization to “take all necessary measures” to safeguard press freedom in Hong Kong. According to sources by RSF, Apple Daily, launched in 1995, was one of the last major Chinese-language media to still dare publish information contradicting the Beijing regime’s propaganda and editorials critical of its authoritarian policies, and for many years it was the target of harassment by government and pro-Beijing camps.