Hong Kong court convicts journalists and past ICIJ partners of sedition in landmark case
Advocates say the guilty verdict against the two Stand News former editors sets a “dangerous precedent” for press freedom in the China-ruled territory.
A Hong Kong court today found guilty of sedition two former editors of Stand News, a former media partner of the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists that was forced to shut down in 2021 as part of a government crackdown on free press.
In the first such case targeting journalists in Hong Kong since the 1997 handover of the former British colony to China, the court accused former editor-in-chief Chung Pui-kuen and former acting editor-in-chief Patrick Lam of approving the publication of 11 “seditious” articles that “intended to bring into hatred” against the Chinese central authorities or the Hong Kong government, according to the verdict reviewed by ICIJ.
The articles at the center of the case were published between 2020 and 2021 and included interviews with a now-detained Hong Kong activist as well as analysis written by a former lawmaker in exile on the pro-democracy protests, law enforcement and other politically sensitive themes.
From now on, anyone reporting on facts that are not in line with the authorities’ official narrative could be sentenced for sedition.
— Reporters Without Borders Asia-Pacific bureau director Cédric Alviani
Chung and Lam, who were detained for nearly a year before they were granted bail, will be sentenced on Sept. 26 and face up to two years in prison and fines of up to $641, according to Hong Kong Free Press. Both pleaded not guilty when the trial began in October 2022.
In a mitigation letter submitted to the court and published by The Witness, Lam wrote that until the very end, Stand News’ editorial staff strived to build and maintain a media organization independent from political and business interests. They vowed to “speak up for the powerless, the marginalized and the minority,” even in face of “condemnation and attacks.”
“If we do have an allegiance, it is, and can only be, to the public,” Lam wrote. “This is because we believe in the freedom of the press and the freedom of speech, and only the freedom to disseminate ideas can protect everyone’s freedom.”
Patrick Lam, former acting editor-in-chief of shuttered news outlet Stand News, leaving the District Court after he was granted bail in Hong Kong on Nov. 7, 2022.
Reporters Without Borders called today’s verdict “appalling” and said it “sets a very dangerous precedent for journalists.”
“From now on, anyone reporting on facts that are not in line with the authorities’ official narrative could be sentenced for sedition,” Cédric Alviani, the organization’s Asia-Pacific bureau director, wrote in a statement.
On its website, Amnesty International said the “dismaying verdict is one more nail in the coffin for press freedom in Hong Kong.”
In 2021, Stand News collaborated with ICIJ on the Pandora Papers investigation, which revealed how dozens of politicians and public officials around the world used shell companies in secrecy jurisdictions to shield their assets from public scrutiny.
As part of the global collaboration, the Hong Kong news site exposed the offshore business dealings of two of Hong Kong’s most powerful people, the territory’s former chief executives Tung Chee-hwa and Leung Chun-ying.
Stand News and ICIJ found that in 2015, while Hong Kong’s top leader, Leung secretly transferred shares he held in a real estate firm’s subsidiary, worth more than $300,000. Leung, who had not responded to ICIJ’s repeated requests for comment, denied wrongdoing and said that, at the time, he was not required to declare details of his holding and the deal. He then denounced Stand News on his Facebook page, claiming that the investigation into his offshore dealings has “ulterior motives.”
Later that year, in December 2021, about 200 police officers raided Stand News’ newsroom, arresting Chung and Lam along with four former board members. The closing of the news organization — followed by that of independent media outlet Apple Daily and many civic organizations — represented one of many casualties of the security crackdown taking place under Chinese rule.
In March, the Hong Kong government enacted a new security law that critics said could further erode media freedom.
According to The Witness, a Hong Kong news site focusing on court cases, dozens of people, including journalists; diplomatic staff from the U.S., the U.K. and several European countries; and readers attended the high-profile court hearing.
In an interview, one of the attendees who knew the defendants called the case “shocking.” They “just wanted to do journalism,” she told the reporters.
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