Hong Kong: Conviction of Stand News journalists another attack on press freedom

Responding to the conviction of the defunct Hong Kong media company Stand News and two of its former editors for “sedition”, Amnesty International’s China Director Sarah Brooks said:

“This appalling verdict is another nail in the coffin of press freedom in Hong Kong. Stand News and its two editors convicted today were targeted simply for doing their legitimate journalistic work.

“The Stand News case is the first trial for sedition – and the first conviction of a media company and individual journalists for breaching national security – since 1997, when Hong Kong was handed over from Britain to China. As a portent of possible future action, this ruling could have a devastating impact on press freedom in the city.

“The court's ruling that 11 articles on Stand News' website were 'seditious' will inevitably force journalists working in Hong Kong to think twice about what they write. Moreover, it will further entrench a climate of fear in the city, fuelled by a series of repressive national security laws.

“Hong Kong authorities should stop applying sedition laws, which are repressive colonial-era crimes that suppress press freedom and other human rights. The journalists convicted today have not committed an internationally recognized crime and their convictions should be overturned.”

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Former Stand News Editor-in-Chief Chung Pui-kuen, former Deputy Editor-in-Chief Patrick Lam and parent company Best Pencil (Hong Kong) Limited were today convicted of conspiracy to publish seditious publications under Hong Kong's Sedition Law as then contemplated by the Crimes Ordinance.

Sentencing is scheduled for September 26, 2024, until which time Chung and Lam are free on bail. The maximum sentence is two years in prison for sedition under the then Crimes Ordinance. This offence is now part of the new national security law – the Safeguarding National Security Ordinance – which came into force in March 2024 and carries a maximum sentence of 10 years.

The charges against the journalists and the media company were based on 17 allegedly seditious articles, including news reports, interviews, portraits and opinion pieces. The judge ruled today that 11 of them were seditious publications.

Stand News, a non-profit digital news channel, ceased operations and deleted its website in December 2021 after its newsroom was raided by over 200 National Security Police officers.

The trial began in October 2022 and its conclusion was postponed several times before today's eagerly awaited verdict and sentence.

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