Hero's welcome for Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai after release on bail

Apple Daily founder and pro-democracy activist returns to office following arrest under national security law

The Hong Kong pro-democracy figure and media mogul Jimmy Lai received a hero's welcome as he returned to his newspaper after being arrested on allegations of foreign collusion, while Chinese state media labelled him a genuine traitor".

Lai, his sons, senior executives from his Next Digital media company and others including the activist Agnes Chow were detained under Beijing's national security law on Monday. Hundreds of police officers also raided the offices and newsroom of Apple Daily, the popular tabloid Lai founded, in a move decried as an assault on press freedom.