Hong Kong outlet Stand News editor jailed for sedition in landmark case
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Mr Chung Pui-kuen edited the now-defunct Stand News, which had about 1.6 million followers before it was shut down in 2021.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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HONG KONG – A Hong Kong court on Sept 26 sentenced a former editor to 21 months in prison for publishing articles about pro-democracy activists, the first jailing of a journalist on sedition charges since the former British colony returned to Chinese rule.
The sentencing of Mr Chung Pui-kuen, 55, is the latest crackdown on free speech in the former British colony that has seen critics of China jailed or forced into exile, following huge pro-democracy protests in 2019
Mr Chung and fellow chief editor Patrick Lam, 36, were in charge of Stand News, a Chinese-language website that gained a massive following during the protests before it was raided and shut down in December 2021
In August, District Court Judge Kwok Wai-kin found the pair guilty of “conspiracy to publish and reproduce seditious publications”.
Stand News’ parent company, Best Pencil, was also found guilty.
The judge handed out a 21-month sentence to Mr Chung, making him the first journalist to be jailed for sedition since Hong Kong came under Chinese rule in 1997.
Mr Lam received a sentence reduction and would not return to jail, owing to time already served, with Judge Kwok saying a prison term “could endanger his life” due to serious health issues.
The judge added that the two defendants, as well as the publication, were “not doing genuine journalistic work”.
“They were taking part in the so-called resistance. They stood on the side of the protesters to oppose the government,” he said.
“Stand News had 1.6 million followers and these seditious articles must have caused quite serious damage, even though I couldn’t quantify it,” Judge Kwok said, adding that prison was the only option.
International criticism
Before the sentencing, defence lawyer Audrey Eu argued for leniency for Mr Lam as he had been suffering from a “very rare and complicated” immune condition that left him with “less than 30 per cent” of kidney function.
“Our largest concern is that if (Lam) has to return to prison, in case anything happens there… that may put his life in danger,” Ms Eu told the court.
Mr Chung and Mr Lam had each spent nearly a year behind bars before they were granted bail at the time of their trial.
The duo were charged under a colonial-era law, which punishes sedition with a maximum jail term of two years.
A security law enacted in March raised that to seven years.
The conviction of Stand News editors in August drew swift global outcry, with the United States denouncing it as “a direct attack on media freedom”.
The European Union called on Hong Kong to “stop prosecuting journalists”.
The Chinese authorities in Hong Kong rejected the criticism, saying that Stand News was “a political organisation through and through”.
The Chinese finance hub has seen its standing in global press freedom rankings plummet in recent years. AFP
