Hong Kong court finds 2 former online news editors guilty of sedition in landmark ruling
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The two editors, Patrick Lam (left) and Chung Pui-kuen, could face a maximum jail term of two years.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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HONG KONG - A Hong Kong court on Aug 29 found two editors of the now-defunct Stand News media outlet guilty of conspiring to publish seditious publications in a case that has drawn international scrutiny amid a security crackdown in the China-ruled city.
The two editors, Chung Pui-kuen and Patrick Lam, could be jailed for up to two years when they are sentenced on Sept 26.
Their conviction is the first for sedition against any journalist or editor since Hong Kong’s handover from Britain to China in 1997.
Critics, including the US government,
“The ruling risks inhibiting the pluralistic exchange of ideas and the free flow of information, both cornerstones of the economic success of Hong Kong,” a European Union spokesperson said after the verdict.
Stand News, once Hong Kong's leading online media outlet with a mix of critical reportage and commentary, was raided by police in December 2021 and had its assets frozen, leading to its closure
Chung, 54, Lam, 36, and the outlet's 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.
Chung and Lam had pleaded not guilty. Only Chung, who had edited or authorised most of the articles that the court found to be seditious, was present in court on Aug 29 for the verdict.
“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.
During the 57-day trial, government prosecutor Laura Ng alleged 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.
Several international media freedom advocacy groups criticised the court’s ruling.
“This verdict is setting a very dangerous precedent that could be further used by Beijing to suppress any independent voices,” said Ms Aleksandra Bielakowska, the Asia-Pacific advocacy manager for Reporters Without Borders (RSF).
“Dozens of media (outlets) 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 said.
Chung, who chose to testify in court, was in the witness box for 36 days of the trial, 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”. REUTERS, AFP
