Hong Kongers queue up to buy copies of Apple Daily following arrest of senior editors, executives

The newspaperâ€™s print run has increased to 500,000 copies

ITDC INDIA EPRESS/ITDC NEWS R Public support for pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily has increased since five of its top editors and senior executives were arrested. The newspaper’s print run has increased to 500,000 copies. The paper usually has a circulation of 80,000. The arrests were made on Thursday morning on national security charges. The owner of a Mongkok newsstand told AFP he normally sells 60 copies of Apple Daily, but on Friday had sold 1,800 before morning.

Hong Kong police charged the editor-in-chief Ryan Law and chief executive officer Cheung Kim-hung of the tabloid on Friday with foreign collusion, inciting fear among media in the city.

The other three, Chief Executive Officer Chow Tat-kuen, Deputy Editor-in-Chief Chan Puiman and Editor-in-Chief Cheung Chi-Wai, are still under investigation.

The United Nations human rights spokesman, Rupert Colville, told Reuters on Friday that the raid "sends an even more chilling message for media freedom".

Police said the editors were arrested on suspicion of foreign collusion to endanger national security, based on over 30 articles that authorities said had called for international sanctions against China and Hong Kong, AP reported.

Post the latest move by Beijing against the media, a symbol of civil liberties in the semi-autonomous city, people have been lining up at newsstands and convenience stores to get their hands on copies of the paper.