The editors of the newspaper (already forced to close as Apple Daily) Chung Pui-kuen and Patrick Lam face sentences of up to two years in prison in the verdict expected in September. The sentence is likely to have profound implications for press freedom in Hong Kong. For the police chief, it is proof of the “necessity and legality” of the crackdown on activists and critical voices. Reporters sans Frontières: 28 journalists persecuted since 2020.
Hong Kong () – A Hong Kong court has sentenced Chung Pui-kuen and Patrick Lam, two editors of the pro-democracy newspaper Stand News, which has already been forced to close, as has the pro-democracy Apple Daily, founded by Jimmy Laialso imprisoned for this reason since 2020. Both face sentences of up to two years in prison in the first trial for a similar crime against representatives of the information since the handover of power to China in the former British governorate in 1997. A verdict that arrived yesterday and was harshly criticized by pro-rights and freedoms movements, with activists from Reporters Without Borders (RSF) calling on local authorities (and central in Beijing) to “put an end to their nefarious campaign against press freedom.”
In a written statement, District Court Judge Kwok Wai-kin said Stand News had become a “danger to national security.” The paper’s editorial line supported “local autonomy in Hong Kong,” he added, calling the media outlet “a tool to smear the central authorities.” [de Beijing] and local government.”
The two journalists were charged under a colonial-era sedition law – which until recently had rarely been used by prosecutors – and not, as has been the case recently, under the controversial National Security Law (NSL). The final verdict, with the quantum of the sentence, is expected to come in September.
Stand News was one of the few newly established online newspapers that gained prominence and authority, especially during the pro-democracy protests in 2019. However, since the introduction of the Beijing-inspired law, several media outlets have had to close their doors. According to critics, the law reduces the judicial autonomy of the Special Administrative Region (SAR) and has made it easier to punish protesters and activists.
Among the latest pro-democracy publications to close their doors in December 2021 was the newspaper. It closed its doors after more than 200 police officers raided and arrested seven employees, accusing them of “conspiring” to “publish sedition.” Hong Kong’s current leader, John Lee, then supported the police operation, calling those arrested “evil elements who harm press freedom.” The case attracted international scrutiny and condemnation from Western countries.
One of the first to comment on the conviction was Steve Li, chief superintendent of the National Security Department of the police, who said it was proof of the “necessity and legality” of the arrests made three years ago. Speaking to reporters outside the court, the senior official recalled the criticism he received at the time of the arrest in December 2021: “Today, the judge’s verdict… clearly illustrates the necessity and legality” of the action “carried out that day.”
In the world press freedom index published annually by Reporters Without Borders, Hong Kong was ranked 18th out of 180 countries and territories in 2002, but fell to 148th in 2022. The city’s ranking is now 135th, between the Philippines and South Sudan. A report on the press freedom index, published just a week before the Stand News verdict by the Hong Kong Journalists Association, showed that press freedom in the city has fallen to its lowest point since the survey began eleven years ago. More than half of the 251 journalists who responded to the survey said press freedom had declined in the past year, and more than 90% of respondents said conditions had declined overall for the fifth consecutive year. The RSF estimates that at least 28 journalists have been prosecuted under the 2020 National Security Law and several independent newspapers and weeklies, including Apple Daily, have been closed.
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