BREAKING: Ex-editor of Hong Kong’s Stand News Chung Pui-kuen jailed for 1 year, 9 months for sedition in landmark case
Hong Kong Free Press
The former chief editor of independent Hong Kong media outlet Stand News has been jailed for one year and nine months over publishing “seditious” materials, in a landmark case. A second editor from the outlet was allowed to walk free after being handed a sentence that allowed for his immediate release.
Stand News’ former editor-in-chief Chung Pui-kuen, 55, and former acting editor-in-chief Patrick Lam, 36, were found guilty last month of “conspiracy to publish and reproduce seditious publications,” alongside the outlet’s parent company. Theirs were the first such convictions of journalists since the former British colony returned to Chinese rule in 1997.
Despite the sentencing hearing being scheduled to begin at 2.30 pm on Thursday, it was not until after 6.50 pm that District Court Judge Kwok Wai-kin sentenced Chung to 21 months in prison.
Kwok set 14 months as a starting point for Lam’s sentence and took three months off given the defendant was only the acting chief editor for two months. He said he would grant further reduction given Lam’s illness, so that Lam would not have to serve extra time in jail.
Proceedings were briefly adjourned after defence lawyer Audrey Eu, representing both Chung and Lam, told the court Lam had a “rare and complex” kidney condition that had worsened since July, and submitted three medical reports for Lam.
According to Eu, Lam’s doctor, Queen Mary Hospital nephrologist Daniel Chan, said Lam’s kidney function had been less than 30 per cent and required constant monitoring. Other doctors who contributed to the reports also said Lam’s condition had worsened rapidly and that he may soon need kidney dialysis, Eu added.
“Any mistakes or delay in treatment could endanger his life,” Eu said, urging the court to set a sentence that would not send Lam behind bars again.
Lam spent 10 months in custody in pre-trial detention before being granted bail, while Chung spent 11 months in detention.
Around a hundred people filled the public gallery and a court extension to witness the landmark sentencing, including around a dozen former Stand News reporters and diplomats from the US, the UK, and the EU. Those who used to work at Stand News were among those in the media gallery, too, now reporting for other news outlets.
11 ‘seditious’ articles
Independent news outlet Stand News was forced to shutter in December 2021 after national security police raided its newsroom and froze its assets. Chung, Lam, and the outlet were later charged for the colonial-era sedition offence, punishable by up to two years in jail.
During the trial, prosecutors accused the pair of running 17 allegedly seditious articles, saying they intended to incite hatred and contempt against the Hong Kong government and Beijing.
In his verdict, Kwok said 11 articles – mostly opinion pieces critical of the authorities – caused “potential detrimental consequences to national security.” Among the articles were commentaries written by self-exiled activist Nathan Law and journalism teacher Allan Au.
Kwok also wrote that Stand News “became a tool to smear and vilify the [Beijing] Authorities and the [Hong Kong] Government” during the pro-democracy protests and unrest in 2019.
Chung was responsible for publishing 10 articles in question while Lam was accountable for the remaining article, the judge said.
In a mitigation letter read aloud by his lawyer in court, Lam explained his understanding of the role of journalists in the city.
“We documented Hong Kong as much as we could, leaving a first draft of history before the people and events disappeared… The only way for journalists to defend press freedom is to report,” wrote Lam, who was absent from the verdict hearing last month due to a serious health issue.
A new security law, known locally as Article 23, has upped the maximum penalty for sedition to up to 10 years in jail, though the new penalty did not apply to Chung and Lam’s case.
This is a developing story, please refresh for more…
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