This is the first such ruling since Hong Kong was handed over to China. The former editor-in-chief of the defunct newspaper “Stand News” has been accused by judges of inciting hatred against the authorities.
It’s an unprecedented verdict: a court in the Chinese special administrative region of Hong Kong has found two former editors-in-chief of the now-defunct newspaper “Stand News” guilty of sedition. It was the first such ruling since Britain handed over the former crown colony to China in 1997.
The court charged Chung Pui-kuen, 54, and Patrick Lam, 36, with publishing 11 articles with seditious elements. The prosecution presented 17 articles from “Stand News” as evidence of its inflammatory publications. It said it included interviews with now jailed democracy activists and comments aimed at spreading “radical political ideologies” and inciting hatred against the authorities.
The defense denied the allegations and spoke of a formal, press release. The journalists face up to two years in prison, the Hong Kong Free Press reported. The punishment comes under a security law recently implemented by the Hong Kong local government: Article 23 of Hong Kong’s mini-constitution excludes treason, treason, sabotage, external interference and espionage with long prison sentences.
The last bastion of a free press
“Stand News” has long been considered the last bastion of independent journalism in Hong Kong. However, the newspaper ceased operations in December 2021 after raids on the editorial offices. A few months ago, Beijing’s important tabloid Apple Daily was forced to close following raids and the arrest of founder Jimmy Lai and several editors.
When Hong Kong was handed over to China in 1997, it was actually promised 50 years of high autonomy under the principle of “one country – two systems”. But after the Chinese leadership in Beijing unilaterally imposed a national security law on the port city in June 2020, Hong Kong seriously lost its judicial, political and social freedoms. With the decree, the central government responded to months of protests that erupted in 2019 against the growing influence of the Communist Party government in the city of eight million people.
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