A Hong Kong court has found two former chief editors of the now-defunct independent news outlet Stand News guilty of sedition in a landmark case that has taken place amid a security crackdown in the China-ruled city.
District Court judge Kwok Wai-kin announced the verdict on Thursday, declaring former editor-in-chief Chung Pui-kuen and former acting editor-in-chief Patrick Lam guilty of conspiring to publish seditious publications. He said 11 of 17 articles that the prosecution presented as evidence were seditious under the colonial-era sedition law.
The judge did not immediately hand down a sentence, but the pair could face as long as two years in prison and a fine of 5,000 Hong Kong dollars (about $640).
Reporting from Hong Kong, Al Jazeera’s Laura Westbrook said the trial was “being seen as a litmus test for press freedom in the city”, noting that it was the first sedition trial against Hong Kong journalists since the former British colony was handed back to China in 1997.
“People will be looking at this verdict as another worrying sign that the freedoms that … Hong Kong enjoyed have been slowly diminishing,” she said, with reference to journalists and international news organisations.
Stand News closed in 2021 after a massive police raid on its office in which the two journalists were arrested along with five members of staff.
It was one of the last media outlets that was critical of the government amid a crackdown on dissent that followed massive pro-democracy protests in 2019.
‘Eradicating dangerous ideas’
The articles found to be seditious included a column from pro-democracy politician Nathan Law who is one of a number of exiles for whom the Hong Kong police have offered rewards for their capture.
An interview with journalist-turned-activist Gwyneth Ho, who had previously worked for Stand News, was also deemed seditious. Ho was one of dozens of activists convicted of subversion in May for organising an unofficial primary for pro-democracy candidates ahead of a Legislative Council election that was later postponed.
Prosecutors claimed some of the articles helped promote “illegal ideologies,” as well as smearing the security law and law enforcement officers. They described Stand News as a political platform as well as an online news outlet.
“Freedom of speech should not be restricted on the grounds of eradicating dangerous ideas, but rather it should be used to eradicate dangerous ideas,” Chung said during the trial, denying that Stand News was a political platform. His former colleague, Lam, did not appear in court for health reasons.
Best Pencil (Hong Kong) Ltd, the outlet’s holding company, was convicted on the same charge. It had no representatives during the trial, which began in October 2022.
Curtailing media freedom
Stand News 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 China imposed in 2020.
Days after its closure, independent news outlet Citizen News also announced it would cease operations, citing the deteriorating media environment and the potential risks to its staff.
Hong Kong was ranked 135 of 180 territories in Reporters Without Borders’ latest World Press Freedom Index, down from 80 in 2021. Self-censorship has also become more prominent during the political crackdown on dissent.
In March, the city government enacted another new security law that many journalists worry could further curtail media freedoms.
The Hong Kong government insists the city still enjoys press freedom, as guaranteed by its mini-constitution.
