Guilty verdict in Stand News sedition trial shows ‘necessity’ of editors’ arrests, national security police say
Hong Kong Free Press
The conviction of two former editors of defunct Hong Kong outlet Stand News shows the “necessity and lawfulness” of their arrests almost three years ago, a top national security police officer has said hours after the pair were found guilty of sedition.
Steve Li, the chief superintendent of the National Security Department of the police, addressed reporters outside the District Court on Thursday after the verdict was delivered.
He said that when police arrested the outlet’s editors in December 2021, some people said the move was an attack on freedom of speech and the press.
“But today, the judge’s verdict… clearly illustrated the necessity and lawfulness of the enforcement [action] taken on that day,” Li said.
After almost a year’s delay, Stand News’ former chief editors Chung Pui-kuen and Patrick Lam heard the verdict in their case on Thursday afternoon. Chung appeared in court, while Lam was absent due to a health issue.
Judge Kwok Wai-kin, who did not enter the courtroom until over an hour after the verdict hearing was scheduled to begin, said he had found 11 of the 17 articles presented by the prosecution as evidence to be “seditious.”
Among them were an interview with former Stand News journalist turned activist Gwyneth Ho – who was in May convicted of conspiring to commit subversion over her role in an unofficial primary election along with other pro-democracy figures – and opinion pieces written by self-exiled activist Nathan Law and journalism teacher Allan Au.
Kwok found Chung responsible for publishing 10 of the 11 articles in question, whereas Lam was responsible for the publication of the remaining article.
Asked outside the court about comments that the case could have consequences for press freedom, Li said the verdict allowed the public to know “what problems we think may breach the law.”
“We are not saying what topics or cases cannot be reported on. We are not doing that,” he said in Cantonese. “But if they choose to use a seditious intention while reporting… this cannot be done. This could be sanctioned by the law.”
Li attended the verdict hearing on Thursday. Responding to a question from HKFP, he said it was not his first time going to a national security court hearing, adding that going in person gave him a better understanding of the situation.
‘A lot of evidence’
Independent online outlet Stand News rose to prominence in 2019 through its coverage of the Hong Kong protests. In December 2021, its newsroom was raided by national security police and seven people linked to Stand News were arrested. Of those, only Chung and Lam were charged. In the hours that followed, the outlet announced its closure and deleted all of its content.
Li said that during the 57-day trial, the prosecution presented “a lot of evidence” on how Chung and Lam published articles that defamed the national security law and “begged” foreign countries to impose sanctions on China and Hong Kong.
He said other news outlets had published articles on similar topics to the 11 the judge had ruled seditious. But the difference was in Chung and Lam’s “seditious intentions,” Li added.
The chief superintendent also said that under Hong Kong’s new security law, known as Article 23, the maximum imprisonment term for a sedition offence has been increased from two years under the colonial-era law to seven years. The penalty is a maximum of 10 years if the person colluded with foreign forces, he added.
Sentencing was scheduled for September 26, with both Chung and Lam allowed to remain on bail until then.
The verdict came on the same day as another landmark verdict in a separate case that was tried at the city’s High Court. The trial was the first under the UN (Anti-Terrorism Measures) Ordinance, and saw a jury consider seven defendants’ involvement in an alleged bomb plot to kill police officers during the 2019 protests and unrest.
Presided over by a nine-member jury, the trial saw one man convicted and the other six found not guilty.
Li said the proceedings were “very serious cases involving genuine violence, explosive and a very organised plot to kill people.” He did not comment on the verdict itself.
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