Hong Kong court convicts former Stand News editors of sedition

A Hong Kong court found two former news editors guilty on Thursday of publishing seditious articles on the region’s leading online media outlet, Stand News.

The publication’s former editor-in-chief Chung Pui-kuen, and ex-acting editor, Patrick Lam Shiu-tung, as well as its parent company Best Pencil (Hong Kong) Ltd, were all charged with conspiracy to publish seditious publications in connection with 17 news articles and commentaries between July 2020 and December 2021.

The conviction comes three years after the media outlet was raided by police in December 2021 and had its assets frozen, leading to its closure a few days after.

The editors were charged under a law stemming from colonial-era crimes ordinance, and now face a punishment of up to 2 years in prison. This has been the first sedition case against journalists in Hong Kong since the former British colony returned to Chinese rule in 1997.

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.

The articles deemed seditious by the court included commentaries written by exiled activists Nathan Law and Sunny Cheung, veteran journalist Allan Au, jailed former Apple Daily associate publisher and Chung's wife Chan Pui-man.

  

Reuters

Members of the media work outside District Court ahead of the verdict in a landmark sedition trial against two former editors of now-shuttered online media Stand News, in Hong Kong, China, August 29, 2024.

‘Reported the truth’

Several international media freedom advocacy groups criticized 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).

"Dozens of media have been shut down, numerous journalists went (into) exile, and others who remained in Hong Kong face a new reality where crossing red lines could be considered as breaching the national security laws," she told Reuters.

During the trial, 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".

He said the site had simply sought to reflect a spectrum of voices including pro-democracy advocates.

Chung stressed that they upheld the principle of publishing every article they received to "showcase the greatest extent of freedom of speech", as long as these articles did not incite violence, adversely affect the public and cause defamation.

Lam wrote in a mitigation letter that "the key to this case is press freedom and freedom of speech ... the only way for journalists to defend press freedom is to report".

Hong Kong protests

Dubbed the ‘Umbrella Revolution’, democracy activists have faced a stringent crackdown since the 2014 Hong Kong protests. The protestors expressed discontent for Hong Kong’s electoral system and demanded universal suffrage at par with Beijing.

Hong Kong’s local media and press freedom has suffered after Beijing criminalized any act undermining the power of authority, under its national security law - passed in 2020.

There have been widespread arrests of protesters, activists, as well as opposition lawmakers.

Several pro-democracy news outlets in Hong Kong, including Lai's Apple Daily, which was noted for its criticism of mainland China's leadership, have been forced to close down.

Critics of the present sedition case, including the U.S. government, say it reflects deteriorating media freedoms under a years-long national security crackdown in the China-ruled city.