A firebomb explodes at the front gate of Lai’s house early this morning.
Press freedom in Hong Kong is under fire, literally.
Early this morning, masked assailants threw Molotov cocktails at the home of outspoken pro-democracy media tycoon Jimmy Lai and at the headquarters of Next Media.
Jimmy Lai is the founder of Next Media, which owns local tabloid Apple Daily.
At 1:45am, two men pulled up to Lai’s house on Kadoorie Avenue in Ho Man Tin.
One man, wearing a hoodie and a surgical mask, lit a bottle before throwing it at the house’s gates, where the projectile exploded in a ball of flames, reports the SCMP.
A man seen throwing a Molotov cocktail at Lai’s house.
Apple Daily footage shows the man immediately running back into the car, which then drove off.
The security guard put out the flames with a fire extinguisher, and called the police.
A few minutes later, other assailants threw a firebomb at the front gates of Next Media’s HQ in Tseung Kwan O in a coordinated attack.
Another firebomb at Next Media’s HQ.
They then drove around to another entrance and threw another Molotov cocktail.
The security guards immediately put out the fire and called the police, reports Apple Daily.
The police set up four roadblocks to find the assailants, but in vain.
Apple Daily reports that no one was hurt.
In November, five men were arrested after three threw rotten animal organs at Lai while he was visiting the main Umbrella Movement protest site in Admiralty.
Lai was arrested in December during the clearance of the protest in Admiralty. He stepped down as chairman of Next Media immediately after.
The Hong Kong Journalists Association called 2014 the “darkest year in several decades” for press freedom in the city. This year is not off to a good start, either.
Photos: Screenshots via AppleDaily.com
