A Hong Kong judge jailed a former chief editor of pro-democracy outlet Stand News for sedition on Thursday, handing down a 21-month prison term in the landmark case.
The sentencing of Chung Pui-kuen is the latest crackdown on free speech in the former British colony that has seen critics of China jailed or forced into exile after huge pro-democracy protests in 2019.
Chung, 55, and fellow chief editor Patrick Lam, 36, were in charge of Stand News, a Chinese-language website that gained a massive following during the protests before it was raided and shut down in December 2021.
District court judge Kwok Wai-kin found the pair guilty last month of "conspiracy to publish and reproduce seditious publications". Stand News' parent company, Best Pencil Limited, was also found guilty.
Chung's 21-month sentence makes him the first journalist to be jailed for sedition since Hong Kong came under Chinese rule in 1997.
Lam received a sentence reduction and will not return to jail, owing to time already served, with Judge Kwok saying a prison term "could endanger his life" due to serious health issues.
The judge said the two defendants, as well as the publication, were "not doing genuine journalistic work".
"They were taking part in the so-called resistance. They stood on the side of the protesters to oppose the government," he said.
"Stand News had 1.6 million followers and these seditious articles must have caused quite serious damage, even though I couldn't quantify it," Judge Kwok said, adding that prison was the only option.
Swift condemnation followed from the European Union, United Nations, as well as the U.S. consulate in Hong Kong, which called for the government to cease targeting journalists.
"The Hong Kong court's sentencing... is a direct attack on media freedom," a spokesperson for the U.S. consulate told AFP.
The European Union called on the government "to restore confidence in press freedom in Hong Kong" while the United Nations right office said the colonial-era sedition provisions should be repealed.
The Hong Kong government said in a statement that the crimes involved were "very serious" and that concerns over press freedom were attempts at "smearing" the city.
International criticism
Defence lawyer Audrey Eu had argued for leniency for Lam because he had been suffering from a "very rare and complicated" immune condition that left him with "less than 30%" of kidney function.
"Our largest concern is that if (Lam) has to return to prison, in case anything happens there... that may put his life in danger," Eu told the court.
Chung and Lam had each spent nearly a year behind bars before they were granted bail at the time of their trial.
Thursday's hearing was delayed by two hours and Lam left the court building with his wife at dusk without making any public comment.
Amnesty International's China director Sarah Brooks said Thursday's sentencing "looks designed to reinforce a 'chilling effect' that dissuades others in the city — and beyond — from criticising the authorities". "It is rule by fear," Brooks said.
The duo were charged under a colonial-era law that punishes sedition with a maximum jail term of two years.
A security law enacted in March raised that to seven years.
The conviction of Stand News editors in August drew swift global outcry, including from the European Union which called on Hong Kong to "stop prosecuting journalists".
Chinese authorities in Hong Kong rejected the criticism, saying that Stand News was "a political organisation through and through".
The Chinese finance hub has seen its standing in global press freedom rankings plummet in recent years.
Published - September 27, 2024 12:16 pm IST
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