Hong Kong Editors Face Prison in Sedition Case

Two former editors of Hong Kong’s Stand News, Patrick Lam and Chung Pui-kuen, face prison sentences after being convicted of sedition.

Both editors will be sentenced on Thursday after being found guilty of publishing seditious content last month under a British colonial-era law that has increasingly been used by courts in the territory to clamp down on dissent.

The case has drawn international criticism and raised concerns over press freedom in Hong Kong.

In a new mitigation letter written to the court, Lam expressed regret for missing an opportunity to explain the principles of independent journalism to a police officer who arrested him on charges of sedition.

“I regret not taking the opportunity to explain to the police officer that journalists never need to be loyal to anyone, support anyone, or be enemies with anyone,” he wrote.

“If we truly have anyone to be loyal to, it can only be the public, and it must be the public.”

Lam and Chung were arrested in December 2021 when authorities raided the offices of Stand News.

The online outlet was founded in 2014 at a time when the news industry was already facing increased censorship and interference, said Lam’s mitigation letter, read out in court by his lawyer Audrey Eu in August.

Every journalist at Stand News sought to run a news outlet with complete editorial independence, Lam wrote, even in the final days of the title before it was shut down shortly after the police raids in 2021.

“Our freedom was counting down. Every colleague was acutely aware. They chose to stay, quickened their pace and made use of every bit of space left in the narrow gap,” Lam said in the letter.

Stand News was seen as one of the few remaining outlets willing to challenge government narratives before it was closed.

The publication was forced to shut down just months after the pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily was closed.

Its founder is fighting collusion charges under a national security law imposed by Beijing in 2020.

Hong Kong officials maintain there are no restrictions on media freedom when journalists “report the facts.”

With many journalists and activists either having been arrested or forced into exile, self-censorship within media is becoming more prevalent in Hong Kong.

Lam and Chung’s ordeal has already impacted their lives.

They spent nearly a year in detention before their trial, and Lam has faced significant health challenges, including a rare disease requiring chemotherapy.

This article includes reporting from The Associated Press