(Bloomberg) -- A Hong Kong court sentenced a former editor to 21 months in prison for publishing articles about pro-democracy activists, the first jailing of a journalist on sedition charges since the former British colony returned to Chinese rule.
The city’s District Court on Thursday announced the sentencing of Chung Pui-kuen and Patrick Lam, top editors at the now-shuttered Stand News, local broadcaster i-Cable reported. They were found guilty last month of taking part in a “conspiracy to publish and reproduce seditious publications” for posting articles the court found to have seditious intentions.
Chung’s punishment was close to the offense’s maximum penalty of two years in jail, while Lam received a term that allowed him to be freed immediately, according to the broadcaster. They both spent almost a year in detention before they were granted bail.
“There has rarely been a more dangerous time to work in media in the city,” Sarah Brooks, Amnesty International’s China director, said in an emailed statement. “The two journalists sentenced today have committed no internationally recognized crime and their convictions should be quashed.”
Under Pressure
The decision adds to a string of cases fueling concerns over press freedom in the semi-autonomous Chinese territory. Days earlier the city denied entry to an Associated Press photojournalist known for taking photographs of the imprisoned activist and media tycoon, Jimmy Lai. And Reporters Without Borders said its staff was blocked for the first time ever from entering Hong Kong when a representative arrived to monitor Lai’s continuing trial in April.
The trial of the Stand News editors was seen as a barometer for press freedom in the once-freewheeling finance hub after Chinese authorities crushed dissent with a national security law in response to massive protests in 2019 advocating for greater democracy.
Chung, 55, and Lam, 36, were convicted last month over 11 articles they published in 2020 and 2021, some written by political activists, that the court said attacked the national security law and “reviled” Beijing authorities with no objective basis.
The conviction drew criticism from press associations and Western governments, prompting the US to call it a “direct attack” on media freedom. The Hong Kong government said claims that the verdict damaged press freedom were unfounded.
Before Beijing’s national security crackdown, the city was known as a haven for free speech and home to a vibrant media landscape that set it apart from mainland China, where such freedoms are unheard of. A recent string of convictions over the display of protest slogans highlights the shrinking space for dissent.
While Hong Kong’s independent legal system remains a major draw for global firms, an unprecedented wave of departures of top foreign judges has added to worries over the future of the rule of law in the city. Its top court, established in 1997 after the handover, has seen about half of its 15 overseas judges step down from a 2019 peak.
Stand News, which extensively covered the 2019 protests, folded at the end of 2021 after authorities raided its office and froze its assets. That followed similar actions taken against Apple Daily and its parent company Next Digital, whose former editors and founder Lai have also been accused of publishing seditious materials.
Lai will take the stand to defend himself in a major national security case later this year after a court dismissed his bid to quash charges that could see the 76-year-old locked up for life. His hearing resumes Nov. 20.
--With assistance from Foster Wong.
(Updates with Amnesty International’s comment in fourth paragraph.)
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