(New York) – The Hong Kong government should quash the politically motivated convictions of two journalists and cease its assault on media freedom, Human Rights Watch said today.
On August 29, 2024, the Hong Kong District Court convicted two editors of the now-defunct Stand News – Chung Pui-kuen, 54, the former editor-in-chief, and Patrick Lam, 36, the former acting editor-in-chief – and the paper’s parent company, Best Pencil (Hong Kong) Limited, of “conspiring to publish seditious materials.” Chung and Lam face up to two years in prison.
“The Hong Kong government is sending a dire message to journalists that reporting on issues of public concern will get you thrown in jail,” said Maya Wang, associate China director at Human Rights Watch. “The Hong Kong and Chinese governments should immediately quash Chung’s and Lam’s convictions and end the crackdown on media freedom.”
During the 57-day trial, the prosecutor presented 17 articles published in Stand News as evidence that the popular award-winning media outlet had sought to “incite hatred against the Hong Kong and central governments.” The district court judge, whom the government hand-picked to oversee national security cases, ruled that 11 of these articles were “seditious.” Police raids and arbitrary arrests of staff members had forced Stand News to close in December 2021.
One allegedly “seditious” article profiled the former journalist Gwyneth Ho when she ran in an informal primary to select pro-democracy candidates for the 2020 Legislative Council elections. A court later ruled the primary “illegal” and convicted Ho and 44 other activists under the National Security Law, which the Chinese government had imposed on Hong Kong in June 2020.
Other articles included commentaries by the journalist Allan Au characterizing a national security trial as a “show trial” and the government’s use of the sedition law as “lawfare” and an opinion piece by the exiled activist Sunny Cheung on being wanted by the Hong Kong police.
The judge ruled that, “considering the societal unrest and the unstable emotions of the public at the time,” these articles intended to “undermine the authority of the Hong Kong and Chinese governments” and “incite public hatred against them.”
The court will hand down Chung’s and Lam’s sentences on September 26. Lam was not present for the verdict hearing due to health issues, local media reported.
Under the National Security Law, the Chinese and Hong Kong governments have taken rapid-fire steps to erase civil liberties in Hong Kong. The Hong Kong government has increasingly abused an overly broad colonial-era sedition law to crack down on peaceful expression. It has used the law against children’s book authors, academics, people who distributed pro-independence flyers, and those who clapped during the trial of a pro-democracy activist.
In March, after the Hong Kong government introduced another draconian national security law that further expands its powers to curb dissent, the colonial-era sedition law was replaced by new legislation that carries penalties of up to seven years in prison.
Since 2020, the Chinese and Hong Kong governments have dismantled Hong Kong’s once-thriving independent media, which for decades had often been highly critical of the Chinese Communist Party. The Hong Kong government turned Radio Television Hong Kong, a public broadcaster that previously had editorial independence, into a government propaganda outlet.
Hong Kong police raided and shuttered Apple Daily, arresting its owner, top executives, and staff, and froze the company’s assets. At least seven other news outlets shut down in fear of the crackdown. The Hong Kong government has repeatedly harassed the Hong Kong Journalist Association, including prosecuting its former head for “obstruction” while reporting and making an apparently politically motivated claim for HK$400,000 (US$51,000) in back taxes.
Several governments and the United Nations have expressed concern about the rapid deterioration of freedoms in Hong Kong since 2020. However, except for the United States, which imposed targeted sanctions on Chinese and Hong Kong officials because of the National Security Law, few governments have taken concrete action.
“The dramatic decline of Hong Kong’s media freedoms have global implications, as the world had long benefited from the city’s intrepid journalists reporting on China,” Wang said. “Concerned governments should stand up for what remains of this space by sanctioning abusive officials and supporting Hong Kong’s journalists.”
