Hong Kong news editors found guilty of sedition: Video
Two former chief editors of the now-defunct Stand News, Chung Pui-kuen and Patrick Lam, have been found guilty of sedition by a Hong Kong court.
This verdict marks the first conviction of its kind since the city came under Chinese rule in 1997.
Stand News, a Chinese-language news outlet, gained significant popularity during the 2019 pro-democracy protests.
However, it was raided and shut down in December 2021 as part of a broader crackdown on dissent.
The editors were charged with conspiracy to publish and reproduce seditious publications, a charge rooted in colonial-era laws that have seen renewed use in recent years.
District court judge Kwok Wai-kin ruled that the articles published by Stand News had seditious intent, accusing the outlet of promoting illegal ideologies. The parent company, Best Pencil Limited, was also found guilty.
"The line (Stand News) took was to support and promote Hong Kong's local autonomy. It even became a tool to smear and vilify the Central Authorities (Beijing) and the (Hong Kong) SAR government," reads a written judgement by Kwok.
Critics argue that the use of outdated sedition laws to silence media and dissenting voices is a significant step back for press freedom in Hong Kong.
Beh Lih Yi from the Committee to Protect Journalists stated, "Journalism is not seditious. Today's oppressive ruling shows Hong Kong is descending further into authoritarianism"
Chung and Lam have been granted bail pending their sentencing on September 26. They face up to two years in prison under the colonial-era law, though recent security legislation could extend this to seven years.
