Hong Kong editors who face prison in sedition case told court about journalistic ideals

HONG KONG — (AP) — Writing to the Hong Kong court that convicted him of sedition, former Stand News editor Patrick Lam said he regretted missing a chance to tell a police officer about independent journalism.

Lam and his ex-colleague Chung Pui-kuen, both former top editors of the now-shuttered Stand News, will learn their sentences Thursday after being 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 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 crush dissent.

Stand News was one of the last media outlets in the city that openly criticized the government as the authorities waged a crackdown on dissent following huge anti-government protests in 2019.

The online outlet, founded in 2014, emerged at a time when the city’s news industry was already facing increased censorship and interference, according to Lam’s mitigation letter, read out in court by his lawyer Audrey Eu in August.

Every journalist at Stand News sought to run a news outlet with complete editorial independence, Lam wrote, even in its final days.

“Our freedom was counting down. Every colleague was acutely aware. They chose to stay, quickened their pace and made use of every bit of space left in the narrow gap,” Lam said in the letter.

That gap slammed shut for Stand News in December 2021, just months after the pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily was shut down. Its founder is fighting collusion charges under a national security law imposed by Beijing in 2020.

Police raided Stand News' office. Lam and Chung were arrested. The outlet shut down later the same day.

Lam wrote that during his detention, a police officer described their positions, telling him that “we’re each serving our own master.” Reflecting on the exchange, Lam wrote, “I regret not taking the opportunity to explain to the police officer that journalists never need to be loyal to anyone, support anyone, or be enemies with anyone. If we truly have anyone to be loyal to, it can only be the public, and it must be the public.”

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 for Stand News.

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

Chan is also Chung's wife and was earlier convicted in the Apple Daily case. She's still in custody pending sentencing.

Kwok said that Lam and Chung were aware of and agreed with the seditious intent, and that they provided Stand News as a publication platform to incite hatred against Beijing or Hong Kong government and the judiciary.

The convictions swiftly drew criticism from foreign governments. The Hong Kong government insists there are no restrictions on media freedom when journalists report the facts.

Analysts said the verdict appeared to be drawing new lines for the city’s media practitioners, although self-censorship is increasingly common following the drastic political changes brought about by the 2020 security law.

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

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

Whatever the sentence, the case has already changed Lam and Chung's lives. They spent almost a year in custody following their arrests. Their trial, which began in October 2022, ran over 50 days, and the verdict was delayed several times.

Lam was absent from the verdict hearing last month due to health reasons. His lawyer, Eu, said that Lam, the father of a young girl, had been diagnosed with a rare disease and had to undergo chemotherapy. He also missed the opportunity to pursue studies overseas due to the case, she said.

In his letter, Lam defended his profession. He said journalists would be shirking their duty if they avoid reporting on matters that the public has a right to be informed about.

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

Chung appeared calm in court after the conviction. Eu told the court that his client hasn't had a job since the case began.

In his mitigation letter, Chung described his wife's experience reporting on the massive earthquake that hit Japan in 2011. He said Chan told him that as despite dangerous conditions she was reluctant to leave because she felt a responsibility to document the event.

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

He added many Hong Kongers who are not journalists have held to their beliefs, and some have lost their own freedom because they care about everyone’s freedom in the community.

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

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