Dear Friends,

A year after the forced closure of Apple Daily, Hong Kong’s leading Chinese-language opposition newspaper, seven members of its staff are still detained and are facing the possibility of life imprisonment. Such judicial persecution sends a chilling message to all Hong Kong-based journalists. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and an NGO coalition are urging, in a joint letter on 28 September, the US Congress to impose targeted sanctions on the individuals involved in the raids that led to the newspaper’s closure.

The weak international response to the forced closure of the daily founded by Jimmy Lai sends Beijing a clear message that it can continue its repressive and authoritarian policies and won’t be held accountable for its crimes. In 2021, RSF already submitted two appeals urging the United Nations to "take all necessary measures" to safeguard press freedom in Hong Kong and obtain the immediate release of the RSF Press Freedom Award Jimmy Lai. The international community needs to show its disapproval in a manner that truly impacts the regime, so that it drops all charges in this case and immediately releases those still held.

Beijing has trampled on democratic institutions and carried out a major crackdown on human rights in Hong Kong. Support our actions so that press freedom’s enemies do not remain unpunished.