Hong Kong: A court in Chinese-controlled Hong Kong convicted two former editors of a now-defunct news outlet on Thursday in a landmark sedition case that became the latest blow to press freedom in a country which was once hailed as a bastion of free media in the Asian continent. Stand News former editor-in-chief Chung Pui-kuen and ex-acting editor-in-chief Patrick Lam, who were arrested in 2021, were charged and convicted for sedition today.
Chung, 54, and Lam, 36, were charged under a colonial-era sedition law that has been used increasingly to crush dissent against the government, akin to China. However, they pleaded not guilty to the charge of conspiracy to publish and reproduce seditious publications. They appeared for the first trial involving media since Hong Kong returned to Chinese rule from the British in 1997.
After the conviction, the two editors could be jailed for up to two years when they are sentenced on September 26. "When speech is assessed as having seditious intent, the relevant actual circumstances must have been taken into consideration, being viewed as causing potential damage to national security, (and) must be stopped," wrote District Court Judge Kwok Wai-kin.
What is the case against Stand News?
Stand News was once Hong Kong's leading online media with a mix of critical reportage and commentary and was known for openly criticising the government on dissent following the massive pro-democracy protests in 2021. However, the office was raided by police in December 2021, and had its assets frozen, leading to its closure.
It was shut down just months after the pro-democracy Apple Daily newspaper, whose jailed founder Jimmy Lai is fighting collusion charges under a sweeping national security law enacted in 2020. Chung, Lam and Stand News' parent company Best Pencil were charged with publishing seditious publications in connection with 17 news articles and commentaries between July 2020 and December 2021.
During the 57-day trial, government prosecutor Laura Ng said Stand News had acted as a political platform to promote "illegal" ideologies and incited readers' hatred against the Chinese and Hong Kong governments. Additionally, some of the commentaries were written by exiled pro-democracy activists Nathan Law and Sunny Cheung, jailed former Apple Daily associate publisher and Chung's wife Chan Pui-man.
Chung, who chose to testify in court, was in the witness box for 36 days, defending media freedoms and saying Stand News had only "recorded the facts and reported the truth". Chung stressed that they upheld the principle of publishing every article they received to "showcase the greatest extent of freedom of speech. Lam, who was not present during the verdict, also stressed that the key to this case was press freedom and freedom of speech.
Reaction to the court's ruling
Chung and Lam's conviction on Thursday was the first for sedition against any journalist or editor in Hong Kong's history. Critics, including the US government, say their case reflects deteriorating media freedoms under a years-long national security crackdown in the China-ruled city.
US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller wrote on X that the convictions were a “direct attack on media freedom” and undermined the city's international reputation for openness. “We urge Beijing and Hong Kong authorities to restore and uphold rights guaranteed in the Basic Law," he said, referring to the mini-constitution which adopted by China to govern Hong Kong after its handover from Britain in 1997 and which was aimed at preserving the territory's capitalist system and way of life until 2047," he said.
Several international media freedom advocacy groups criticised this court's ruling. "This verdict is setting a very dangerous precedent that could be further used by Beijing to suppress any independent voices," said Aleksandra Bielakowska, the Asia-Pacific advocacy manager for Reporters without Borders (RSF).
Resident Kevin Ng, who was among the first in the line of the seats for the hearing, told the Associated Press that he used to be a reader of Stand News and has been following the trial. Ng, 28, said he read less news after its shutdown, feeling the city has lost some critical voices. “They reported the truth, they defended press freedom,” said Ng.
(with inputs from agencies)
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