Two journalists who led a now-shuttered Hong Kong online news outlet will hear a verdict in their sedition case on Thursday, in a trial that’s seen as an indicator for press freedom in the semi-autonomous Chinese city. The trial of Stand News’ former editor-in-chief Chung Pui-kuen and former acting editor-in-chief Patrick Lam began almost two years ago. It’s Hong Kong’s first sedition case involving media since the former British colony returned to Chinese rule in 1997. The journalists were charged with conspiracy to publish seditious materials under a colonial-era law, which has been used increasingly to target dissent under a government crackdown following huge anti-government protests in 2019.
