National security law: 4 ex-Apple Daily editorial staff charged with collusion denied bail despite offer to cut off all foreign contact
- Now-defunct newspaper’s former associate publisher, executive editor-in-chief and two editorial writers accused of conspiring to call for sanctions
- In break from normal procedure, no mention of their occupations was made in court documents; prosecutors granted additional time for investigations
West Kowloon Chief Magistrate Victor So Wai-tak, one of the handful of judicial officers hand-picked by the city’s leader to hear cases under the Beijing-imposed legislation, on Thursday rejected the bail applications made by the ex-staff members of the now-defunct newspaper.
Police officers a day before had detained former associate publisher Chan Pui-man, 51, along with editorial writers Fung Wai-kong, 58, and Yeung Ching-kee, 55, when they answered bail following their arrest and release last month.
Former executive editor-in-chief Lam Man-chung, 51, was arrested for the first time and taken into custody by officers from the force’s National Security Department just after daybreak on Wednesday.
The latest round of prosecutions takes the number of former Apple Daily personnel facing charges to nine, including seven under the national security law.