Bangkok — A Hong Kong court on Thursday convicted two independent journalists of sedition for coverage of the island state’s pro-democracy demonstrations of 2019. The sedition trial is the first that has focused on journalists and editors since Hong Kong’s handover to China from Britain in 1997.
The former editor-in-chief of Stand News, Chung Pui-Kuen, and the former acting-editor-in-chief, Patrick Lam, were found guilty of conspiracy to publish and reproduce seditious information, Judge Kwok Wai Kin announced Thursday afternoon.
The verdict announcement was delayed three times, and for months, and followed a two-month trial.
The legal proceedings against Chung and Lam began in December 2021 when the newsroom offices of Stand News were raided by dozens of police. The two were among at least six news employees detained. The well-known online news site stopped publishing the next day.
Chung, 54, appeared Thursday in court to hear the verdict, while Lam, 36, was not present because of a health issue, local media reported.
They each face up to two years in prison. They remain on bail and will be sentenced on September 26, the court announced.
Chung and Lam are expected to appeal the decision, reports say.
In response to the ruling on the social media site X, U.S. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller called the convictions a “direct attack on media freedom” that “undermines Hong Kong’s once-proud international reputation for openness.”
During the trial, prosecutors focused on 17 articles published by Stand News that included stories featuring pro-democracy ex-lawmakers Nathan Law and Ted Hui — who are among a group of overseas-based activists wanted by the Hong Kong authorities — as well as essays and commentaries from other pro-democracy advocates.
The court asserted that the articles helped to promote “illegal ideologies” in Hong Kong. They described Stand News as a political platform and online news outlet.
Judge Kwok said Thursday that the court ruled that most of the articles reviewed in the case were seditious.
“The court rules that the political atmosphere was extremely heated at that time of the case. Many residents were dissatisfied with or even opposing the Hong Kong and central [China] governments. ... Under such context, the court found 11 out of the 17 articles to be seditious,” local media reported.
Eric Yan-ho Lai, a research fellow at Georgetown Center for Asian Law told VOA the verdict will have a “chilling effect” on Hong Kong’s media environment.
“Without a speedy appellant ruling, the verdict could impose an additional chilling effect on the local media industry that has been exercising self-censorship heavily since 2020,’’ Lai said. “The verdict could add burdens to foreign media outlets in Hong Kong as they have been relatively eager to report and opine for dissenting views about Hong Kong.”
The legal process likely will continue, Lai said.
“The verdict on Thursday would only serve as a beginning of free press trial since it is likely that the defendants will go for appeal and the process could take long,” Lai said.
Founded in 2014, Stand News operated, reported and published independently online during the 2019 student protests, and its articles would often include comments and voices from those critical of the Hong Kong government in addition to those supportive of Beijing policies and China. Stand News was regarded as one of the last independent sources of news in Hong Kong until it ceased publishing in December 2021.
Lai said the use of the sedition law in the case is an obvious sign that the Hong Kong government is rolling back press freedoms and free speech of opinions and viewpoints the government disapproves.
“The Stand News case is so significant as it is the first time the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government employs the sedition law to target media editors and media outlet per se,’’ Lai said. ‘’Before the handover, the British colonial government had ceased to deploy the sedition law, since the 1970s.”
In recent years authorities have used colonial-era ordinances to target those who are allegedly guilty of seditious acts, carrying a maximum sentence of two years in prison.
The outcome of the trial is indicative of how small the space is today in Hong Kong for press freedom and independent journalism, observers say.
Aleksandra Bielakowska, an advocacy officer at Reporters with Borders, told VOA the verdict has set “new red lines” in Hong Kong.
“The guilty verdict is sending a very clear message and sets new red lines in the territory — now any remaining media will need to be additionally careful about reporting about pro-democracy activists who remain in prison or decided to live in exile,” Bielakowska said.
The Hong Kong Journalist Association released a statement following Thursday’s verdict.
“HKJA believes that the case against Stand News exemplifies the decline of the city’s press freedom, and the damage done to the city’s press and to a media company is irreversible long before the verdict was handed down today,” the statement said.
“We strongly oppose using sedition laws — including those set out in the new Safeguarding National Security Ordinance — to prosecute people exercising their constitutional right to conduct journalism.”
Following the Hong Kong pro-democracy protests in 2019, Beijing imposed a national security law on the city in 2020, prohibiting secession, subversion and foreign interference, which prompted a political crackdown in the city.
At least 28 journalists and press freedom defenders have been arrested since then, with 10 still in jail, and over a dozen media outlets closed. Hong Kong’s international ranking of press freedom has nosedived in recent years, sitting 135th in the rankings for 2024 after once boasting a high ranking of 18 in 2002, according to the Reporters without Borders.
