Hong Kong: Firebomb attacks early yesterday on the Hong Kong home and office of pro-democracy newspaper tycoon Jimmy Lai have triggered new fears over the safety of outspoken media figures in the city.
The twin attacks came as tension remains high in the semi-autonomous southern Chinese city after more than two months of protests seeking free leadership elections. They ended when rally camps were cleared in December.
Lai was targetted during the protests by a group of men who threw rotten meat at him. The printworks producing his outspoken Apple Daily newspaper were repeatedly attacked.
Other journalists and media workers have also been victims, including the former editor of liberal newspaper Ming Pao who was stabbed in the street in broad daylight last February.
“Anti-democratic forces in Hong Kong keep resorting to violence,” Lai’s spokesman Mark Simon told AFP.
“Violence and intimidation seem to be the ongoing currency for those opposed to democracy and free press. There is no other plausible explanation here.”
Yesterday’s two almost simultaneous attacks came just before 2am at Lai’s home and the Next Media headquarters, which publishes Apple Daily.
“The cases have been classified as arson,” a police spokeswoman told AFP, adding no one had been arrested so far.
Security camera footage uploaded to the Apple Daily website shows a masked man throwing a flaming glass bottle towards the gate of Lai’s mansion. Footage from outside the Next Media headquarters also shows a flaming bottle thrown towards the building entrance and smashing on the ground.
AFP
