Hong Kong journalists convicted of sedition for first time since British handover to China in 1997

A Hong Kong court has found two former editors of the now-defunct Stand News outlet guilty of conspiring to publish seditious content in the first such convictions since Hong Kong returned to Chinese control.

The conviction of Chung Pui-kuen and Patrick Lam, who now face up to two years in prison, comes amid an intensified crackdown on press freedom and dissent in Hong Kong by Beijing.

Critics argue that the verdict reflects a troubling erosion of rights as part of a broader crackdown under a national security law implemented in 2020 that has seen several media outlets shut down and journalists and pro-deomcracy activists jailed or forced into exile. The law was brought into force in the wake of pro-democracy protests in 2019 was the city's most concerted challenge to the Hong Kong government since the former British colony was handed back to Bejing in 1997.

Mr Chung, the former editor-in-chief, and Mr Lam, the newspaper’s former acting editor-in-chief, both pleaded not guilty to conspiracy to publish seditious materials under a law dating to the city’s time as a British colony.

Stand News, launched in 2014, had been a significant source of news about the 2019 protests and the subsequent crackdown by authorities.

Prosecutors built their case on 17 articles published by Stand News between July 2020 and December 2021, labelling them as seditious for allegedly inciting hatred or contempt against the Chinese central government, the Hong Kong government, or the judiciary. The outlet’s parent company Best Pencil was also charged.

On Thursday, a judge ruled that 11 of the 17 articles carried “seditious intentions.” In a written statement, district court judge Kwok Wai-kin said that Stand News had become a “danger to national security”. He continued: “It even became a tool to smear and vilify the Central Authorities [in Beijing] and the SAR [Hong Kong] government.”

The articles deemed seditious by the court included commentaries by exiled activists Nathan Law and Sunny Cheung, veteran journalist Allan Au and jailed former Apple Daily associate publisher Chan Pui-man, as well as interviews with former opposition lawmakers and activists, most of whom are now imprisoned or in self-imposed exile.

During the 57-day trial, Mr Chung, who chose to testify in court, was in the witness box for 36 days, defending media freedoms and saying Stand News had only "recorded the facts and reported the truth". He said the site had simply sought to reflect a spectrum of voices including pro-democracy advocates.

Mr Chung stressed that they upheld the principle of publishing every article they received to "showcase the greatest extent of freedom of speech", as long as these articles did not incite violence, adversely affect the public and cause defamation.

Mr Lam wrote in a mitigation letter that "the key to this case is press freedom and freedom of speech ... the only way for journalists to defend press freedom is to report".

After the verdict, Mr Chung said he had no regrets. He wrote in his own mitigation letter: “I believe that these stories and ideas can stimulate and inspire people’s thinking, reflect the times, and shape history.”

Nations across the West – including the US and UK – have repeatedly condemned the prosecutions of journalists in Hong Kong, with Washington saying that the case against Mr Chung and Mr Lam “creates a chilling effect on others in the press and media”.

Hong Kong was once a stronghold of press freedom but has seen its media scene shrink since Beijing imposed the national security law. While authorities claim the law restored stability after the mass 2019 protests, critics argue it broadly targets political dissent and criticism, stifling press freedom.

"This verdict is setting a very dangerous precedent that could be further used by Beijing to suppress any independent voices," said Aleksandra Bielakowska, the Asia-Pacific advocacy manager for Reporters without Borders (RSF).

"Dozens of media have been shut down, numerous journalists went (into) exile, and others who remained in Hong Kong face a new reality where crossing red lines could be considered as breaching the national security laws," she told Reuters.

As of the 2023 RSFworld press freedom index, Hong Kong is ranked 140th out of 180 countries and territories. Its 2023 ranking was a big drop from 73rd in 2019 and 18th in 2002. Hong Kong’s current rank places it below China and Russia.

Mr Chung and Mr Lam will be sentenced next month.

Reuters and the Associated Press contributed to this report