Hong Kong journalists found guilty of sedition in case critics say highlights decline in press freedom

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A Hong Kong court found two former news editors guilty on Thursday of publishing seditious content on a shuttered pro-democracy media site, a ruling rights groups said was a further blow to press freedoms in the city as Beijing tightens its grip.

Chung Pui-kuen, former editor-in-chief of Stand News, and Patrick Lam Shiu-tung, the publication’s ex-acting editor, had been charged under a colonial-era law that has been increasingly used to target dissent following a wave of anti-government protests in 2019.

It was the first sedition case targeting journalists in Hong Kong since the former British colony returned to Chinese rule in 1997.

Their convictions came nearly three years after hundreds of police officers descended on the independent news website’s office in December 2021 to seize journalistic materials and arrest staff members, forcing it to close days later.

Once a bastion of press freedom in China, Hong Kong has seen its once vibrant local media landscape wither since Beijing imposed a sweeping national security law on the city in 2020, with Chinese-language media hit particularly hard.

Outspoken local news outlets, such as Stand News and Apple Daily, were forced to shut down in recent years. Several foreign media and non-governmental organizations have also since chosen to relocate their headquarters elsewhere, citing the changing political landscape. However, many international media outlets still operate in the city – and it remains home to many foreign journalists.

Both Hong Kong and Beijing authorities say the national security law has helped restore stability in the financial hub following massive, and often violent, protests in 2019.

But critics counter that what China’s Communist Party views as national security offences are far broader and more sweeping, often ensnaring political criticism and dissent.

On Thursday, the Hong Kong District Court also convicted Best Pencil Hong Kong, the holding company of Stand News, of the sedition offence.

During the trial, prosecutors accused the website of publishing 17 stories that disparaged the Beijing government, Hong Kong authorities and the national security law between July 2020 and December 2021.

The stories featured interviews with former opposition lawmakers and activists – most of whom are currently in jail or living in self-imposed exile, including Nathan Law, who is wanted by the city’s national security police.

Lawyers defending Chung and Lam argued that those 17 stories were part of a much broader news file, which included interviews with pro-government voices, and that the news organization had dedicated itself to carrying out balanced journalism.

In a summary of the judgment, Judge Kwok Wai-kin wrote at the time of the publication of the stories, Hong Kong was in a “heated political environment” and that “many citizens even opposed the Hong Kong government and central government [in Beijing].”

It ruled that 11 of the 17 stories in question were examples of seditious content.

“[The court] rules that Chung is aware and agrees with the sedition intent, and provides Stand News as a publication platform with an intent to incite hatred against the central and Hong Kong government,” it said, adding that the articles provoked citizens to resort to “illegal” acts and incited hatred against the judiciary.

Lam shared the similar culpability when he was the acting editor, the summary said. The pair will be sentenced at a later date.

Chung and Lam were found guilty on charges stemming from a colonial-era crimes ordinance, but the police involved with the case were national security officers.

Each had already spent a year in jail awaiting trial, a pattern seen in many national security cases, until they were bailed in late 2022. They face a maximum sentence of two years in prison.

During mitigation Thursday, Lam’s lawyer Audrey Eu read out a letter on his behalf in which the former editor said he regretted not telling the police one thing after his arrest.

“Journalists do not have to be loyal to anyone, support anyone or be enemies of anyone,” he wrote in the letter. “And if we really have someone to be loyal to, it will be the public and only the public because we believe in freedom of the press and freedom of speech.”

In a separate case, Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai, known for his support of the city’s pro-democracy movement and criticism of China’s leaders, is on trial accused of several counts of colluding with foreign forces, a crime under the national security law, as well as a separate sedition charge. He faces a maximum sentence of life in prison if convicted.

In March, Hong Kong legislated a second national security law, known as Article 23, which consolidated the sedition offences and raised its maximum jail terms from two years to a decade.

The move prompted further concern from media workers, according to Hong Kong Journalists Association, which unveiled its annual survey last week.

Its members said press freedom in the city was at its lowest-ever level since the association started collecting data in 2013.

“Press freedom in Hong Kong has continued its downward slide … with many reporters fearing further restrictions as a result of recently-introduced Article 23 national security legislation,” the trade union said.

The association has come under increasing pressure from authorities in recent years. Both Hong Kong officials and Beijing state media have accused it of siding with protesters during the 2019 protests, a charge the association has denied.

Its chairperson Selina Cheng said last month she was fired by the Wall Street Journal after she was elected to lead the association. The newspaper declined to comment on her case, but said it “continues to be a fierce and vocal advocate for press freedom in Hong Kong and around the world.”

Hong Kong’s leader John Lee, a former police chief, has repeatedly denied media freedoms have faded, while urging both local and foreign press to “tell good stories” about the city.

In May, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) ranked Hong Kong at 135 out of 180 places in its annual press freedom ranking. Its 2023 ranking was a big drop from 73rd in 2019 and 18th in 2002. China ranked 179, according to the press rights organization.

This story has been updated with additional information.