HONG KONG,  June 21 (Reuters) - Hong Kong pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily will be forced to shut “in a matter of days” after authorities froze

EXCLUSIVE HK’s Apple Daily to shut within days, says Jimmy Lai adviser

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2021-06-21 15:30:06

HONG KONG, June 21 (Reuters) - Hong Kong pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily will be forced to shut “in a matter of days” after authorities froze the company’s assets under a national security law, an adviser to jailed owner Jimmy Lai told Reuters on Monday.

The closure of Apple Daily would undermine the former British colony's reputation as an open and free society and send a warning to other companies that could be accused of colluding with a foreign country, media advocacy groups said.

Next Digital (0282.HK), publisher of the top-selling 26-year-old newspaper, would hold a board meeting on Monday to discuss how to move forward after its lines of credit were frozen, the adviser, Mark Simon, said.

"We thought we'd be able to make it to the end of the month. It's just getting harder and harder. It's essentially a matter of days," he said by telephone from the United States.

The newspaper would stop publication on June 26 if a board meeting on Friday decided to stop operations, an internal memo seen by Reuters showed.

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