Hong Kong editors facing jail time in sedition case tell court about journalistic ideals

HONG KONG In a letter to the Hong Kong court that convicted him of inciting sedition, former Stand News editor-in-chief Patrick Lam said he regretted not having had the chance to tell the policeman about independent journalism.

Lam and his former colleague Chung Pui-kuen, both former editors of the now-shuttered Stand News, will learn their sentences on Thursday after they were found guilty last month in a landmark case widely seen as a barometer of media freedom in Hong Kong.

They were the first journalists to be convicted of inciting sedition since the former British colony returned to Chinese rule in 1997. They face up to two years in prison and a fine of 5,000 Hong Kong dollars (about $640) under a colonial-era sedition law that has been increasingly used to crack down on dissent.

Stand News was one of the last media outlets in the city to openly criticise the government in 2019, when authorities launched a crackdown on the opposition following mass anti-government protests.

The website, founded in 2014, came at a time when the city’s news industry was already grappling with increased censorship and interference, according to a letter lenient on Lam’s sentence, read in court in August by his lawyer Audrey Eu.

As Lam wrote, every journalist working at Stand News strove to run the newsroom with complete editorial independence, even in the final days of the newsroom’s existence.

“Our freedom was running out. Every coworker was aware of it. They chose to stay, stepped up, and used every available space in the narrow gap,” Lam said in the letter.

That loophole closed for Stand News in December 2021, just months after the closure of the pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily. Its founder is fighting collusion charges under a national security law imposed by Beijing in 2020.

Police raided the Stand News office. Lam and Chung were arrested. The station was closed the same day.

Lam wrote that during his detention, the police officer described their positions, telling him that “each of us serves his own master.” Reflecting on the exchange, Lam wrote, “I regret not taking the opportunity to explain to the police officer that journalists never have to be loyal to anyone, support anyone, or be hostile to anyone. If we are truly to be loyal to anyone, it can only be public opinion, and it must be public opinion.”

In August, Lam and Chung were convicted of conspiracy to publish and reproduce seditious publications, along with Best Pencil (Hong Kong) Ltd., the holding company of Stand News.

Judge Kwok Wai-kin wrote in his ruling that the website had become a tool to smear the Beijing and Hong Kong governments during the 2019 protests. He ruled that 11 articles published under Lam and Chung’s leadership had subversive intent, including commentaries by activist Nathan Law and prominent journalists Allan Au and Chan Pui-man.

Chan is also Chung’s wife and was previously convicted in the Apple Daily case. She remains in custody awaiting sentencing.

Kwok said Lam and Chung were aware of and agreed with the intention to incite sedition, and that they provided Stand News as a publishing platform to incite hatred against the Beijing and Hong Kong governments and the judiciary.

The convictions were quickly met with criticism from foreign governments. The Hong Kong government says there are no restrictions on media freedom when journalists report the facts.

Analysts say the ruling appears to set new boundaries for media outlets in the city, although self-censorship has become increasingly common following drastic policy changes brought about by the 2020 security law.

Many prominent pro-democracy activists have been arrested or forced into voluntary exile, and dozens of civil society groups have been disbanded. In March, the city introduced another security law, deepening concerns about press freedom among journalists.

Selina Cheng, chairwoman of the Hong Kong Journalists Association, said she had not heard of any major changes at local newsrooms in the weeks following the verdict. Still, the association said the damage to the city’s press was already irreversible long before the verdict.

Regardless of the verdict, the case has already changed Lam and Chung’s lives. They spent nearly a year in custody after their arrests. Their trial, which began in October 2022, lasted more than 50 days, with sentencing delayed several times.

Lam did not attend his sentencing hearing last month due to health issues. His lawyer, Eu, said Lam, the father of a young girl, had been diagnosed with a rare disease and had to undergo chemotherapy. She added that he had lost the opportunity to continue his studies abroad because of the case.

In his letter, Lam defended his profession. He said journalists would be evading their duty if they avoided reporting on issues the public has a right to know.

“The only way for journalists to defend press freedom is to report on events,” he wrote.

Chung appeared calm in court after his sentencing. Eu told the court his client had been out of work since the case began.

In a mitigation letter, Chung described his wife’s experiences covering the massive earthquake that struck Japan in 2011. He added that Chan told him that despite the dangerous conditions, she was reluctant to leave because she felt obligated to document the event.

Her dedication to journalism “is engraved in my heart,” he wrote.

He added that many Hong Kongers who are not journalists have remained true to their beliefs, and some have lost their freedom because they care about the freedom of every member of the community.

“Accurately recording and reporting the stories and thoughts of others is an inescapable responsibility of journalists,” he said.

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