The Hong Kong government has hailed the conviction of ex-Stand News editors Chung Pui-kuen and Patrick Lam after they and their now-defunct news outlet were found guilty on Thursday of publishing 11 “seditious” items. Multiple NGOs, a press union and the EU have slammed the guilty verdicts, saying they demonstrate the city’s decline in press freedom.
Stand News articles ruled “seditious” included an interview with journalist-turned-activist Gwyneth Ho, and opinion pieces written by self-exiled activist Nathan Law and journalism teacher Allan Au. The duo face up to two years in prison when sentenced next month.
Multiple press groups and NGOs hit out at the verdict on Thursday, with the Hong Kong Journalists Association condemning the colonial-era sedition law, which has since been repealed to make way for new security legislation, raising the maximum penalty for sedition from two years to seven, or 10 if the crime were committed with an “external force”.
“We strongly oppose using sedition laws — including those set out in the new Safeguarding National Security Ordinance — to prosecute people exercising their constitutional right to conduct journalism,” the HKJA wrote.
The sentiment was echoed by US, UK and EU spokespersons, as well as NGOs Reporters Without Borders and the Committee to Protect Journalists, who called the convictions “another nail in the coffin for Hong Kong’s press freedom.”
On Thursday evening, a government statement hailed the verdict: “Any individual or organisation that incites hatred and engages in acts and activities endangering national security can never escape sanctions of the law, and such malicious acts will surely be duly punished.”
A spokesperson added that journalists were free to air criticism based on facts, but said that “Stand News completely disregarded objective facts and contravened the special duties and responsibilities emphasised by international human rights conventions which journalists must observe.”
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