A Hong Kong court has denied bail to two former senior editors charged with conspiring to publish seditious materials, a day after police raided Stand News, a pro-democracy media outlet, prompting its closure. About 200 officers raided the office of the online publication on Wednesday, froze its assets and arrested seven current and former senior editors and former board members, in the latest crackdown on the city’s press. Campaigners and some western governments including the US have criticised the raid as a sign of further erosion of press freedoms since China imposed a sweeping national security law in the former British colony last year. A magistrate at West Kowloon court denied bail applications for the former Stand News chief editor Chung Pui-kuen and the acting chief editor, Patrick Lam. Hong Kong laws restrict media coverage of bail hearings. Along with Best Pencil (Hong Kong) Limited, the corporate entity behind Stand News, the two men were charged with conspiring “to publish and/or reproduce seditious publications,”, according to the charge sheet. Four former members of the Stand News board – Margaret Ng, a former democratic legislator and barrister, Denise Ho, a pop star, and Chow Tat-chi and Christine Fang – were released on police bail pending further investigations. Ng told reporters as she left the police station that “continuing to care for each other is very important”. Ho, a Canadian citizen, left without comment. Chung’s wife, Chan Pui-man, formerly a senior editor with the pro-democracy Apple Daily newspaper, was already being held and remains in prison on separate charges. The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, has called for all seven to be released. “We call on PRC [People’s Republic of China] and Hong Kong authorities to cease targeting Hong Kong’s free and independent media and to immediately release those journalists and media executives who have been unjustly detained and charged,” Blinken said. “A confident government that is unafraid of the truth embraces a free press.” Blinken said “journalism is not sedition” and that “by silencing independent media, PRC and local authorities undermine Hong Kong’s credibility and viability”. Stand News shut down on Wednesday less than 10 hours after the police raid. The national security department confiscated boxes of evidence and froze HK$61m ($7.8m) of its assets. Stand had been the most prominent remaining pro-democracy media outlet in the city, after Apple Daily was forced to close in June after a similar crackdown. All members of staff have been dismissed, Stand said in a statement announcing its closure. The news site and all social media channels were erased late on Wednesday evening. Hong Kong’s Foreign Correspondents’ Club said: “These actions are a further blow to press freedom in Hong Kong and will continue to chill the media environment in the city following a difficult year for the city’s news outlets.” Peter Stano, the lead EU spokesperson for external affairs, tweeted that the raid marked a further deterioration of press freedoms in Hong Kong. The UN Human Rights Office in Geneva expressed concern at the “extremely rapid closing of the civic space and outlets for Hong Kong’s civil society to speak and express themselves freely”. Canada’s foreign affairs minister, Mélanie Joly, expressed “deep concern” over the arrest of Ho, who is a Canadian citizen. Taiwan’s president, Tsai Ing-wen, also condemned the raid. “We in #Taiwan regret to see their detention & call on the international community to stand up for freedom & democracy in HK,” she tweeted. Hong Kong’s leader, Carrie Lam, rejected calls for the seven to be released on Thursday, saying the arrests were law enforcement actions and not aimed at the media industry. “These actions have nothing to do with so-called suppression of press freedom,” Lam said. “Journalism is not seditious … but seditious activities could not be condoned under the guise of news reporting.” Beijing’s foreign ministry in Hong Kong also rebuffed international criticism, accusing the EU external affairs office and Hong Kong’s Foreign Correspondents’ club of “openly spreading harsh remarks” and “wantonly slandering the rule of law and freedom in Hong Kong”. A not-for-profit outlet, Stand News was founded in 2014 in the wake of the city’s pro-democracy umbrella movement. It was known internationally for its livestreams during the months of pro-democracy protests that rocked the city in 2019.