Hong Kong business tycoon Jimmy Lai has been arrested and his newspaper offices raided by police over allegations of collusion with foreign forces.
His case is the most high-profile arrest so far under the controversial security law imposed by China in June.
Mr Lai has been a prominent pro-democracy voice and a supporter of protests that erupted last year.
In February the 71-year-old, who also holds UK citizenship, was charged with illegal assembly and intimidation.
He was later granted police bail.
Mr Lai’s arrest on Monday was first announced by Mark Simon, an executive at his media firm Next Digital.
“Jimmy Lai is being arrested for collusion with foreign powers at this time,” he said.
Scores of police were also seen entering the building of his newspaper Apple Daily, searching the offices.
Police have confirmed that seven people were arrested on Monday on suspicion of breaking the national security law, but have not yet named Mr Lai.
News agency Reuters and local media cited sources saying that other senior executives of the company were among those detained.
Who is Jimmy Lai?
The businessman is estimated to be worth more than $1bn (£766m).
Having made his initial fortune in the clothing industry, he later ventured into media and founded the newspaper Apple Daily, which is frequently critical of Hong Kong and mainland Chinese leadership.
He has also been himself an activist against Beijing’s increasingly tight grip on the Hong Kong. In 2019 he supported the reform protests and participated in the demonstrations.
When earlier this year he was charged for his involvement in those protests, Chinese state media dubbed him a “riot’s mastermind” who “has spread waves of hatred and negative information about the Chinese mainland day and night”.
On 30 June, when the security law was passed, Mr Lai told the BBC that this “spells the death knell for Hong Kong”.
He warned that Hong Kong would become as corrupt as mainland China because “without the rule of law, people who do business here will have no protection”.
In a separate interview with the AFP news agency, Mr Lai said: “I’m prepared for prison. If it comes, I will have the opportunity to read books I haven’t read. The only thing I can do is to be positive.”
Source: bbc.com