Court convicts two journalists in a landmark sedition case

Chung Pui-kuen (second left) former chief editor and Patrick Lam (left) former acting editor of the now-defunct media outlet Stand News

A Hong Kong court convicted two former editors of a shuttered news outlet yesterday, in a sedition case that is widely seen as a barometer for the future of media freedom in the city.

Stand News former 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 Hong Kong’s first involving media since the former British colony returned to Chinese rule in 1997.

Stand News was one of the city’s last media outlets that openly criticized the government amid a crackdown on dissent that followed massive pro-democracy protests in 2019.

It was shut down just months after the pro-democracy Apple Daily tabloid, 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 sedition law that has been used increasingly to crush dissidents. 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 on the same charge. It had no representatives during the trial, which began in October 2022.

Chung appeared calm after the verdict was handed down, while Lam did not appear in court.

Defense lawyer Audrey Eu read out a mitigation statement from Lam, who said Stand News reporters sought to run a news outlet with fully independent editorial standards. “The only way for journalists to defend press freedom is reporting,” Eu quoted Lam saying.

Dozens of residents and reporters lined up to secure a seat for the hearing, which began an hour late.

The delivery of the verdict was delayed several times for reasons including awaiting the appeal outcome of another landmark sedition case.

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

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

Judge Kwok Wai-kin found that 11 of the 17 articles in question carried seditious intent, according to a press summary. He noted the intense political atmosphere at the time of their publication, when many residents were dissatisfied with or opposed to the governments of Hong Kong and China.

The articles included stories featuring pro-democracy ex-lawmakers Nathan Law and Ted Hui, who are among a group of overseas-based activists targeted by Hong Kong police bounties. Other articles included interviews with three participants in a primary election organized by the pro-democracy camp in 2020, and commentaries by Law and veteran journalists Allan Au and Chan Pui-man. Chan is also Chung’s wife.

The court ruled that interviews with Law and Hui did not carry seditious intention because they only touched on the political views and the status of the interviewees, the summary said. Two of the interviews with the primary participants were also not seditious due to similar reasons, but the judge deemed a third one had the intent of inciting hatred against the authorities. KANIS LEUNG, HONG KONG, MDT/AP