A Hong Kong court has found two former editors of the now-defunct Stand News guilty of conspiring to publish seditious publications, saying they sought to incite hatred against the government. Chung Pui-Kuen and Patrick Lam have become the first journalists to be convicted of sedition under the British colonial era law since Hong Kong was returned to China in 1997.
The publication itself, which became a popular and trusted source of news during the 2019 demonstrations against Hong Kong’s government, was also convicted of sedition although it was not represented in court. Mr Chung and Mr Lam, who spent 11 months on remand before being released on bail, could face up to two years in jail when they are sentenced next month.
The court found that 11 articles published in Stand News had seditious intentions to “bring into hatred” against the Hong Kong government and the authorities in Beijing. Some of the articles were interviews with pro-democracy figures and others were opinion pieces or blog posts by supporters of the demonstrations.
Judge Kwok Wai-kin said that Mr Chung and Mr Lam “had knowledge of and approved of the articles’ seditious intentions”. He said that Mr Chung “offered Stand News as the publishing platform with the intention to incite hatred against the Central Authorities or the Hong Kong Government, and to excite inhabitants of Hong Kong to attempt to procure the alteration, otherwise than by lawful means, of matter as by law established, or to incite hatred against the administration of justice.”
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Among those present in the courtroom were democracy activists, former journalists from Stand News and a large number of young journalists and journalism students. Diplomats from a number of European Union consulates in the city, including Ireland’s, were in court for the verdict.
Mr Chung sat behind a glass panel but Mr Lam was unable to attend court because of illness. In a mitigation letter to the judge, Mr Chung said that the journalistic values that informed his decisions as editor of Stand News were widely shared in Hong Kong.
“Many Hong Kong journalists I know, including many former colleagues of Standpoint News, hold similar beliefs in the past and present, and are determined to stay at the news scene, witness and record real stories, and listen to and record diverse thoughts. I believe these stories and ideas can stimulate and inspire people to think, reflect the times, and shape history,” he said.
“I know that there are more Hong Kong people who are not journalists, but they have also been insisting on practising their beliefs in their respective positions, writing, expressing and creating sincerely through various forms and genres to respond to the challenges of the times. Some of them care about the freedom and dignity of everyone in the community and are willing to pay the price of losing their own freedom. Recording and reporting their stories and thoughts truthfully is an unavoidable responsibility for journalists.”
Amnesty International condemned the verdict, warning that it risked having “dire ramifications” for press freedom in Hong Kong. Amnesty’s China Director Sarah Brooks said Mr Chung and Mr Lam were targeted simply for carrying out legitimate journalistic work.
“The court’s judgment that 11 articles on the Stand News website were ‘seditious’ will invariably force journalists working in Hong Kong to think twice about what they write and further entrench a climate of fear in the city, fuelled by a succession of repressive national security laws.
“The Hong Kong authorities should end their use of sedition laws, which are repressive offences harking back to the colonial era, to muzzle freedom of the press and other human rights.”
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