Hong Kong journalists found guilty of sedition in a case that critics say highlights the decline of press freedom

() – A Hong Kong court on Thursday found two former news editors guilty of publishing seditious content on a shuttered pro-democracy media site, a ruling that human rights groups said was a further blow to press freedom in the city as Beijing tightens your control.

Chung Pui-kuen, former editor-in-chief of Stand News, and Patrick Lam Shiu-tung, the publication’s former acting editor, had been charged under a colonial-era law that has increasingly been used to target the dissent after a wave of anti-government protests in 2019.

It was the first case of sedition against journalists in Hong Kong since the former British colony returned to Chinese rule in 1997.

Their convictions came almost three years after hundreds of police officers stormed the independent news website’s office in December 2021 to confiscate journalistic material and arrest staff members, forcing it to close days later.

Hong Kong, once a bastion of press freedom in China, has seen its once vibrant local media landscape wither since Beijing imposed a sweeping national security law on the city in 2020, and Chinese-language media found itself especially affected.

In recent years, outspoken local media outlets such as Stand News and Apple Daily have been forced to close. Several foreign media outlets and non-governmental organizations also decided to move their headquarters elsewhere, citing the changing political landscape. However, many international media outlets continue to operate in the city, which remains home to many foreign journalists.

Both Hong Kong and Beijing authorities say the national security law helped restore stability to the financial hub following massive and often violent protests in 2019.

But critics counter that what the Chinese Communist Party considers crimes against national security are much broader and more encompassing, often generating criticism and political dissent.

This Thursday, the Hong Kong District Court also convicted Best Pencil Hong Kong, the holding company of Stand News, for the crime of sedition.

During the trial, prosecutors accused the website of publishing 17 stories disparaging the Beijing government, Hong Kong authorities and the national security law over two years between 2020 and 2021.

The stories included interviews with former lawmakers and opposition activists, most of whom are currently in jail or living in self-imposed exile, including Nathan Law, who is wanted by the city’s national security police.

Lawyers defending Chung and Lam argued that those 17 stories were part of a much larger news archive, which included interviews with pro-government voices, and that the news organization had dedicated itself to balanced journalism.

In a summary of the ruling, Judge Kwok Wai-kin wrote that at the time of the publication of the July 2020 to December 2021 stories, Hong Kong was in a “heated political environment” and that “many citizens even They opposed the Hong Kong government and the central government [en Beijing]”.

11 of the 17 stories in question were ruled to be examples of seditious content.

“[El tribunal] “rules that Chung is aware of and agrees with the intention of sedition, and provides Stand News as a publishing platform with the intention of inciting hatred against the central and Hong Kong government,” it said, adding that the articles provoked citizens to resort to “illegal” acts and incited hatred against the judiciary.

Lam also had the same culpability when he was acting editor, according to the summary. Both will be sentenced at a later date.

Chung and Lam were convicted of charges stemming from a colonial-era crime ordinance, but the police officers involved in the case were national security officers.

In another case, Hong Kong media mogul Jimmy Lai, known for his support of the city’s pro-democracy movement and his criticism of Chinese leaders, is on trial accused of several counts of collusion with foreign forces, a crime under the national security law, as well as a separate charge of sedition. If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of life in prison.

In March, Hong Kong legislated a second national security law, known as Article 23, which consolidated sedition crimes and increased maximum prison sentences from two years to a decade.

The move sparked further concern among media workers, according to the Hong Kong Journalists Association, which released its annual survey last week.

Its members said press freedom in the city was at its lowest level since the association began collecting data in 2013.

“Press freedom in Hong Kong has continued to decline… and many journalists fear further restrictions as a result of the recently introduced Article 23 national security legislation,” the union said.

In recent years, the association has been under increasing pressure from the authorities. Both Hong Kong officials and state media in Beijing have accused her of siding with protesters during the 2019 protests, a charge the association has denied.

Its president, Selina Cheng, said last month that the Wall Street Journal had fired her after she was chosen to lead the association. The newspaper declined to comment on his case, but said he “remains a fierce and vocal defender of press freedom in Hong Kong and around the world.”

Hong Kong leader John Lee, a former police chief, has repeatedly denied that press freedoms have faded, while urging local and foreign press to “tell good stories” about the city.

In May, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) ranked Hong Kong 135 out of 180 in its annual press freedom ranking. Its 2023 ranking was a big drop from the 73rd place it held in 2019 and the 18th place it held in 2002. China ranked 179th, according to the press rights organization.

This story has been updated with additional information.