Joyce Zhou and James Pomfret

HONG KONG, (Reuters) –Hundreds of Hong Kong security officers raided Stand News’ office on Wednesday. Six people were arrested for conspiring to publish seditious materials.

Further concerns are raised about freedom of speech, media access and the security of information in former British colonies. China returned to control in 1997 under Chinese leadership with promises of protection for individual rights.

According to police, they had issued a statement that it was carrying out a search under a warrant authorizing it “to search and take away relevant journalistic materials”.

“Over 200 plain-clothed police officers and uniformed officers were deployed in the course of this operation. According to the statement, “The search operation is ongoing.”

Under the Beijing-imposed, broad national security law in effect for the city of Beijing from June 2020, sedition is not considered a crime.

Recent court rulings allow authorities to make use of the newly created legislation, which gives them the power to deploy colonial-era laws that were not as widely used. This includes the Crime Ordinance covering sedition.

The authorities claim that the 2019 national security law restored order to pro-democracy protests. It does not restrict rights or violate freedoms. Critics claim the legislation serves to suppress dissent.

In June hundreds of officers raided Apple Daily’s premises, a pro-democracy newspaper. They arrested executives who were accused of “collusion” with a foreign nation. The paper was eventually shut down.

TVB Hong Kong reported that six of the people detained Wednesday were former board members Margaret Ng (a former democratic legislator) and Denise Ho (a pop singer), as well as Patrick Lam, acting chief editor.

Stand News uploaded a video showing police entering Ronson Chan’s residence as its deputy assignment editor and also head of the Hong Kong Journalists Association.

“The accusation was for conspiracy to publish seditious materials. This is the court warrant. Officer: “Your phone is interfering with our work.”

Separately, the police said that they had taken three people into custody, three of them women aged 34-73 and searched their houses. The police did not give names to those being arrested as is its custom.

According to a Reuters reporter on the spot, the Stand News bureau was temporarily sealed off in an industrial building of the Kwun Tong working-class district.

A police media liaison officer on the 14th floor said entry to the office would not be permitted given an “ongoing operation”. He refused to provide further information.

As dozens of officers milled about the lobby, four police cars were left downstairs.