Hong Kong Journalists Jailed in Landmark Sedition Case
Chung Pui-kuen and Patrick Lam, former editors at Stand News, were sentenced to 21 and 11 months in Hong Kong for publishing seditious articles. This case marks the first sedition charge against journalists since the 1997 handover. Rights groups and international bodies have condemned this as a severe blow to press freedom.
Chung Pui-kuen and Patrick Lam, former editors at Stand News, were sentenced to 21 and 11 months respectively in Hong Kong for publishing seditious articles.
Best Pencil, the newspaper's publisher, was fined five thousand Hong Kong dollars.
This is the first sedition case against journalists in Hong Kong since its 1997 handover to China.
The lengthy trial, starting in October 2022, saw 11 articles deemed seditious, according to Judge Kwok Wai-kin.
Chung and Lam were charged under a colonial-era law rather than the new national security law.
Rights groups have condemned the crackdown on press freedom, with Reporters Without Borders highlighting the case as another blow to media freedoms in Hong Kong.
The case has garnered international criticism, particularly from the United States.