Photo/Illutration The last issue of Apple Daily arrive at a newspaper booth in Hong Kong early in the morning on June 24. (AP Photo)

HONG KONG--Hong Kong residents rushed in the early hours of Thursday to snap up copies of the final edition of pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily, which was forced to close after 26 years after becoming the target of a national security crackdown.

Emotions ran high as supporters of the popular newspaper, which has faced an unrelenting squeeze since its owner and staunch Beijing critic, Jimmy Lai, was arrested under the national security law in August 2020, queued for their last copies just after midnight. “I couldn’t sleep well for the past few nights,” said Tse, 60, a former medical worker, who leaned on a cart to support herself as she queued outside a newspaper vendor in the working class district of Mong Kok early Thursday. “I hope the reporters can stay true to their faith and keep working hard.”

Apple Daily printed 1 million copies on Thursday, more than 10 times its usual print run.

The shutdown deals the most serious blow yet to Hong Kong’s media freedoms and could potentially destroy its reputation as an open and free media hub after Beijing imposed the security law on the global financial center last year.

Critics of the law say it’s being used to crush dissent in the former British colony, which authorities in Beijing and Hong Kong reject. Hong Kong and mainland officials have repeatedly said media freedoms are respected but are not absolute.

Last week, 500 officers raided the newspaper’s headquarters, with live feeds showing authorities sifting through reporters’ notes and other journalistic material in scenes that drew international condemnation.

Five executives were arrested and two--chief editor Ryan Law, 47, and Cheung Kim-hung, 59--were charged with conspiracy to commit collusion with a foreign country and denied bail. Yesterday, a 55-year-old columnist for the paper was also arrested under the national security law.

Authorities also froze the assets of companies related to Apple Daily, which senior executives said left it unable to operate.

Lai has emerged as one of the highest-profile targets of the new law and is facing three national security charges, including colluding with a foreign country.

He has been in detention since December, denied bail under the security law and already serving several sentences for taking part in unauthorized rallies, including during the global financial hub’s mass pro-democracy protests in 2019.

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