Jimmy Lai, the founder of the staunchly anti-government and pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily, was arrested on 10 August over accusations of colluding with foreign forces, under the new national security law.
This came as police raided the offices of his media company to search for evidence.
Scroll down for the full script.
(Aired on ViuTVSix on 10 August 2020)
It was a dramatic scene.
Around 200 police officers entered the Tseung Kwan O offices of Next Digital, which owns Apple Daily and Next Magazine.
The company's founder, Jimmy Lai, was led by police through the offices in handcuffs.
He was arrested this morning for suspected collusion with foreign forces, conspiracy to defraud and incitement, according to police.
In an interview with Reuters in May, 71-year-old Lai pledged to stay in Hong Kong even though he expected to be one of the targets of the new legislation.
He had visited Washington, where he met officials including Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, to rally support for Hong Kong democracy.
That prompted Beijing to label him a "traitor."
Two of Lai's sons, Ian and Timothy, were also arrested today.
Four senior executives of Next Digital Media were detained too and accused of conspiracy to defraud.
One of them, Chief Financial Officer Chow Tat-keun, was accused of collusion with foreign forces.
Police said they had a court warrant to search the premises, but promised not to disrupt its daily operations.
(Soundbite, STEVE LI, Superintendent, National Security Department)
"Senior officers and myself conducted a preliminary examination to see which departments can't be searched.
Editors', reporters' desks may contain a lot of news material, so we won't search those areas."
But on live video, plain-clothes officers were seen rifling through papers in the Apple Daily newsroom.
Tensions flared when staff members questioned whether that was within the warrant's scope.
The Next Media Trade Union said in a statement that officers' actions undermined their ability to protect sources and violated press freedom.
Journalists from Reuters, RTHK and online media Stand News, were at one point barred from entering the building.
This media liaison officer explained there wasn't enough space, and they had a criteria as to which media groups they would allow in.
"We will choose media that are more well-known locally, and haven't obstructed the police, or threatened our safety in past operations."
Police finished their search by mid-afternoon, and said they collected more than two-dozen boxes of evidence.
Apple Daily's editor-in-chief Ryan Law told Reuters that the paper wouldn't be intimidated, and said it was "business as usual."
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