Executives from Hong Kong newspaper Apple Daily face court

Police officers stand guard outside a court in Hong Kong (Kin Cheung/AP)

The editor of Apple Daily, Kong Kong’s pro-democracy newspaper, has faced court for the first time since his arrest under the city’s national security law.

Ryan Law, the chief editor, appeared alongside Cheung Kim-hung, the CEO of Next Digital, with both charged with collusion with a foreign country to endanger national security in a case widely seen as an attack on press freedom in the semi-autonomous Chinese territory.