A court in Hong Kong has found two former editors of the now-defunct pro-democracy news outlet Stand News guilty of sedition. This case marks a significant milestone in the context of the current security crackdown occurring in the Chinese-controlled city.
District Court Judge Kwok Wai-kin announced the verdict on Thursday, declaring that former editor-in-chief Chung Pui-kuen and former acting editor Patrick Lam were guilty of conspiracy to publish seditious publications based on 17 articles. The judge did not immediately set a sentence, but both men now face potential penalties of up to two years in prison and a fine of 5,000 Hong Kong dollars (approximately 640 US dollars) under colonial-era sedition laws.
Laura Westbrook from Al Jazeera reported from Hong Kong and described the trial as a “litmus test for press freedom in the city.” This is the first time, since the handover from British to Chinese rule in 1997, that journalists in Hong Kong have faced a sedition case.
“People will view this verdict as yet another worrying sign that the freedoms Hong Kong once enjoyed are slowly disappearing,” she stated, referring to journalists and international news organizations.
Stand News was shut down in 2021 following a massive police raid during which the two journalists were arrested along with five other staff members. The outlet was one of the last remaining media entities that openly criticized the government amid the crackdown on dissent following the widespread pro-democracy protests in 2019.
The sedition case involved articles that included stories about pro-democracy politicians Nathan Law and Ted Hui, both of whom are among a group of activists abroad that Hong Kong police have offered rewards to capture. Other articles included interviews with participants from a primary election organized by the pro-democracy bloc in 2020, as well as comments from Law and veteran journalists such as Allan Au and Chan Pui-man.
Prosecutors argued that some of the articles promoted “illegal ideologies” and defamed the national security law, as well as law enforcement authorities. They described Stand News as a political platform as well as an online news outlet.
“Freedom of expression should not be restricted under the guise of eradicating dangerous ideas, but rather used to eradicate dangerous ideas,” Chung stated during the trial, where he denied that Stand News was a political platform. His former colleague Lam was not present in court.
The company behind the media outlet, Best Pencil (Hong Kong) Ltd, was also convicted of the same charge without having representatives present during the trial, which began in October 2022.
The closure of Stand News came just months after the pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily was also shuttered, with its imprisoned founder, Jimmy Lai, fighting accusations of conspiracy under a sweeping national security law introduced in 2020. Days after Stand News’s closure, the independent news outlet Citizen News announced its decision to cease operations, citing the deteriorating media environment and risks to their staff.
Hong Kong has been ranked 135th out of 180 territories in Reporters Without Borders’ latest World Press Freedom Index, a dramatic drop from 80th place. Self-censorship has also become more widespread amid the political crackdown on dissent. In March, the city’s government introduced a new security law that many journalists fear could further restrict media freedom.
The Hong Kong government insists that the city still enjoys press freedom as guaranteed by its mini-constitution.