Hong Kong court sentences two journalists in landmark sedition case

 

A Hong Kong court on Thursday convicted two former editors of a closed news agency in a sedition case that is widely seen as a bellwether for the future of press freedom in the city once considered a bastion of free press in Asia.

Former Stand News editor-in-chief Chung Pui-kuen and former acting editor-in-chief Patrick Lam were arrested in December 2021.

They pleaded not guilty to the charge of conspiracy to publish and reproduce seditious publications.

Their sedition trial was the first to involve the media in Hong Kong since the former British colony returned to Chinese rule in 1997.

Stand News was one of the last media outlets in the city to openly criticize the government, amid a crackdown on dissent following the massive pro-democracy protests of 2019.

It was shuttered just months after the pro-democracy Apple Daily, whose jailed founder Jimmy Lai is fighting collusion charges under a sweeping national security law enacted in 2020.

Chung and Lam were charged under a colonial-era anti-sedition law that has increasingly been used to crack down on dissent.

They face up to two years in prison and a fine of 5,000 Hong Kong dollars (about $640) for a first offense.

Best Pencil (Hong Kong) Ltd., the outlet’s holding company, was convicted of the same charge. It had no representation during the trial, which began in October 2022.

Judge Kwok Wai-kin said in his written ruling that Stand News had become a tool to smear the Beijing and Hong Kong governments during the 2019 protests.

“When a speech, in the relevant context, is deemed to have caused potential harm to national security and is intended to seriously undermine the authority of the Chinese central government or the Hong Kong government, then it must be stopped,” he said.

The case centered on 17 articles. Prosecutors said some promoted “illegal ideologies” or defamed the security law and law enforcement officials.

Judge Kwok found that 11 of these documents had seditious intent, including commentaries written by activist Nathan Law and esteemed journalists Allan Au and Chan Pui-man.

Chan is also Chung’s wife. She found that the other six were not, as interviews with former pro-democracy lawmakers Law and Ted Hui, who are among a group of overseas activists targeted for bounties by Hong Kong police, revealed.

Chung appeared calm after the verdict was pronounced, while Lam did not appear in court due to health reasons.

The couple were released on bail pending sentencing on September 26.

Defense attorney Audrey Eu read a mitigating statement from Lam, who said that Stand News reporters had attempted to run a news agency with completely independent editorial standards. “The only way for journalists to defend press freedom is through journalism,” Eu quoted Lam as saying.

Eu did not read Chung’s mitigation letter in court. But local media cited his letter, in which he wrote that many Hong Kongers who are not journalists have held onto their beliefs, and some have lost their freedom because they care about the freedom of everyone in the community.

“Accurately recording and reporting their stories and thoughts is an inescapable responsibility of journalists,” he wrote in that letter.

The verdict was delayed several times for various reasons, including awaiting the outcome of an appeal in another historic sedition case. Dozens of residents and journalists lined up to secure a spot for the hearing, which began an hour late.

Resident Kevin Ng, who was among the first in line, said he was a Stand News reader who has been following the trial. Ng, 28, said he has read less news since the shutdown, feeling the city has lost some critical voices. He said he would have “complex feelings” if the editors were found guilty.

“They reported the truth, they defended press freedom,” said Ng, who works in risk management.

Stand News closed its doors in December 2021, following a high-profile police raid on its office and arrests. Armed with a warrant to seize relevant journalistic material, more than 200 officers participated in the operation.

A few days after Stand News closed, independent news outlet Citizen News also announced it would cease operations, citing a deteriorating media environment and potential risks to its staff.

Hong Kong ranked 135th out of 180 territories in Reporters Without Borders’ latest World Press Freedom Index, down from 80th in 2021. Self-censorship has also become more evident during the political crackdown on dissent. In March, the city government enacted another new security law that many journalists feared would further limit press freedom.

Reporters Without Borders condemned the guilty verdict in a statement, saying it set a dangerous precedent and dealt another blow to the city’s “broken press freedom.”

Eric Lai, a senior fellow at the Georgetown Center for Asian Law, said the ruling was in line with “the anti-free speech trend” of rulings since the 2020 security law came into force. He said it criminalizes journalists performing their professional duties.

The Hong Kong government maintains that the city still enjoys freedom of the press, as guaranteed by its mini-constitution.

[AP]

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