By Jessie Pang and James Pomfret
HONG KONG (Reuters) -A Hong Kong court on Thursday found two editors of the now-defunct Stand News media outlet guilty of conspiring to publish seditious articles in a case that has drawn international scrutiny amid a security crackdown in the China-ruled city.
The two editors, Chung Pui-kuen and Patrick Lam, could face a maximum jail term of two years. This is the first sedition conviction against any journalist or editor since Hong Kong’s handover from Britain to China in 1997.
It is a case that critics, including the U.S. government, say reflects deteriorating media freedoms under a years-long national security crackdown in the China-ruled city.
Stand News, once Hong Kong’s leading online media with a mix of critical reportage and commentary, was raided by police in December 2021 and had its assets frozen, leading to its closure a few days later.
Chung, 54, Lam, 36, and the outlet’s parent company Best Pencil (Hong Kong) Ltd were all charged with conspiracy to publish seditious publications in connection with 17 news articles and commentaries between July 2020 and December 2021.
Chung and Lam had pleaded not guilty, with only Chung present in court on Thursday for the verdict. Lam’s absence wasn’t explained.
District Court Judge Kwok Wai-kin wrote in a summary of the judgement that in making a ruling on seditious intent, the court had considered “the potential danger to national security” and the actual situation at the time.
