Two journalists who led Hong Kong’s democracy newspaper have been convicted of sedition.
Two editors of defunct Stand News Media, Chung Pui-kuen and Patrick Lam, now face up to two years in prison.
The case marks the first sedition charges against a Hong Kong journalist since the city was returned to China from British rule in 1997.
Rights groups condemned the ruling, with Reporters Without Borders urging Hong Kong to “end its vicious campaign against press freedom”.
District Court Judge Wai-kin Kwak said in a written statement that Stand News had become a “risk to national security.”
He added that the newspaper’s editorial supported “Hong Kong’s autonomy”.
“It even became a tool to slander and frame the central government. [in Beijing] and [Hong Kong] He referred to it as “the government of the special administrative region” in his written judgment.
Both journalists were charged under a colonial-era charge of rebellion that prosecutors rarely used until recently, and not under the controversial National Security Act (NSL).
They are scheduled to be sentenced at the end of September.
Stand News was one of a handful of relatively new online news portals that rose to prominence during the 2019 pro-democracy protests.
However, since the national security law was introduced in 2020, many media outlets in Hong Kong have been closed.
Critics say the law effectively undermines Hong Kong’s judicial autonomy and makes it easier to punish protesters and activists.
Stand News was one of the last openly pro-democracy newspapers until it closed in December 2021, when more than 200 police officers raided its offices.
Seven staff members were arrested and charged with “conspiring to publish subversive material,” including interviews with democracy activists.
Hong Kong’s current Chief Executive, John Lee, supported the police operation at the time, calling those arrested “an evil force that undermines freedom of the press”.
The incident attracted international attention and condemnation from Western countries.
The United States has repeatedly condemned the prosecution of Hong Kong journalists, saying the lawsuit against the two editors “has a chilling effect on the press and media workers.”
According to Reporters Without Borders’ World Press Freedom Index, the former British colony’s press freedom ranking has plummeted from 18th to 135th over the past two decades.
On Thursday, the Asia Pacific region’s director called the ruling a “horrible verdict.” [that] “It sets a very dangerous precedent for journalists.”
“From now on, anyone who reports facts that do not match the official statements of the authorities can be punished for sedition,” Cedric Albiani said in a statement.
“We once again urge the Hong Kong authorities to end their ongoing judicial harassment of the two journalists and cease their vicious campaign against press freedom.”
