Hong Kong: two Stand News editors sentenced for “sedition”
Two former editors of the now-defunct independent outlet Stand News, Chung Pui-kuen and Patrick Lam, have been sentenced to 21 months and 11 months in prison, respectively, for publishing information deemed seditious by a Hong Kong court – a first in the territory’s modern history. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) condemns this dangerous precedent and calls for the outrageous judgment to be overturned.
On 26 September, Chung Pui-kuen and Patrick Lam, two former editors-in-chief of Stand News, an online media outlet that has ceased operations since their arrest, were sentenced to 21 months and 11 months in prison respectively. They were found guilty of publishing "seditious publications" by a Hong Kong court on 29 August, although the announcement of their sentencing was delayed. Despite spending nearly one year in detention between 2021 and 2022 before being released on bail, Chung will have to continue serving time behind bars as his sentence exceeds the amount of time he spent in detention. Lam was immediately released due to health reasons. This is the first sedition case involving a media outlet since the UK handed Hong Kong back to China in 1997.
“Chung Pui-kuen and Patrick Lam were serving the public’s interest by covering social and political issues in Hong Kong and should never have been detained, let alone sentenced to prison. We urge the international community to intensify its pressure on the Chinese regime to secure Chung’s release, alongside the 10 other journalists and press freedom defenders detained in the territory.
The trial against Chung and Lam ended on 29 June 2023, yet the verdict was postponed several times. The two journalists were detained for nearly a year and were only granted bail on the condition they remained within the territory, reported to the police weekly, and did not give media interviews. During the trial, at least 17 online articles published between July 2020 and December 2021 were presented by the prosecution, including interviews, profiles and opinion pieces.
A non-profit Chinese-language news site, Stand News was the second-most influential independent media after Apple Daily, reaching over 1.7 million followers on Facebook and about one million on Instagram before it closed. On 29 December 2021, it was raided by 200 police officers. Six of its journalists, including Pui-kuen and Lam, were arrested. Later the same day, Stand News announced on social media that it would cease publication and dismiss its employees as the company’s assets, worth about 61 million Hong Kong dollars (7 million euros), were frozen by the government. Around 70 staff members lost their jobs.
Hong Kong ranks 135th out of 180 countries in RSF’s 2024 World Press Freedom Index, plummeting down from 18th place in just two decades. China ranks 172nd of the 180 countries and territories surveyed in the index.
