National security law: Apple Daily bosses to ask Hong Kong authorities to release some frozen assets to pay staff wages
- Authorities froze HK$18 million worth of assets of three companies affiliated with the newspaper
- Board of parent company Next Digital plans to write to Security Bureau on Monday with request
The Apple Daily tabloid is likely to ask Hong Kong’s Security Bureau to release some of the HK$18 million (US$2.32 million) worth of assets frozen during a police crackdown on the paper’s top leadership on Thursday so it can pay the wages of its 1,300 employees.
The 1,300 employees on the Hong Kong payroll accounted for the lion’s share of staff costs, at HK$920 million as of March last year.
The paper said that if the bureau rejected the request, it would have no choice but to file an application with the Court of First Instance seeking to revoke the order freezing the assets.
Under the city’s labour laws, if wages are not paid within one month after they become due, a worker may deem his employment contract to be terminated by his employer and is entitled to payment in lieu of notice in addition to other statutory and contractual termination sums.