The two editors, Patrick Lam (left) and Chung Pui-kuen, could face a maximum jail term of two years. - Reuters
HONG KONG: Hong Kong pro-democracy news outlet Stand News and its two former chief editors were found guilty of sedition on Thursday (Aug 29), the first conviction of its kind since the city came under Chinese rule in 1997.
The verdict is part of a crackdown on free speech in the former British colony that has seen critics of China jailed or forced into exile, following huge pro-democracy protests in 2019.
Editors Chung Pui-kuen and Patrick Lam are the first journalists to be convicted of sedition since Britain handed Hong Kong over to China in 1997.
They were in charge of Stand News, a Chinese-language website which gained a massive following during the protests in 2019, before it was raided and shut down in December 2021.
On Thursday, district court judge Kwok Wai-kin said Chung and Lam were guilty of "conspiracy to publish and reproduce seditious publications".
The parent company of Stand News, Best Pencil Limited, was also found guilty.
"The line (Stand News) took was to support and promote Hong Kong local autonomy," according to a written judgement by Kwok.
"It even became a tool to smear and vilify the Central Authorities (Beijing) and the (Hong Kong) SAR Government."
Lam was absent from court on Thursday due to illness.
The judge granted the duo bail before their sentencing on Sept 26.
The sedition offence has its roots in British colonial rule. It was unused for decades until 2020, when authorities started deploying it in cases against government critics.
Under the colonial-era law, Chung and Lam face a maximum penalty of two years in prison. A recent security law enacted in March upped the jail term for sedition to seven years. - AFP
