Hong Kong media mogul Jimmy Lai, pro-democracy activist Agnes Chow released on bail

Pic courtesy: PTI, Jimmy Lai is in center

Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai and pro-democracy activist Agnes Chow were released on bail on Wednesday (August 12) after the duo was arrested as part of a crackdown under a new national security law implemented by China.

Lai, who is the owner of Hong Kong's Apple Daily, came out of the police custody flanked by his lawyers and was greeted by hundreds of pro-democracy supporters who chanted "fight till the end" and "support apple, have an apple a day".

Lai, however, preferred to remain silent after his release. Lai’s bail was set at HK$300,000 ($38,461), plus a HK$200,000 ($25,805) surety. The media tycoon was arrested on Monday (August 10) for suspected collusion with foreign forces.

The new national security law was imposed by Beijing on June 30. It gives the authority to punish anything considered as secession, subversion, "terrorism" or collusion with foreign forces with life imprisonment.

The law has received the support of Hong Kong's Beijing-backed government which claims the law is necessary to maintain law and order in the country after months of violent anti-government and pro-democracy protests in 2019.

Lai's two sons and activist Agnes Chow were released late on Tuesday.

Pro-democracy activist Chow called her arrest "political persecution and political suppression", according to the South China Morning Post. "It's very obvious that the regime is using the national security law to suppress political dissidents," she said.

Chow also said that she was "unprepared" when she was taken into custody on Monday night. "I have been arrested four times before, but honestly this time, I was scared the most. And it was the hardest," she added.