Hong Kong: ‘Rule by fear’ as first journalists sentenced to prison under sedition law for doing their job

Journalists Chung Pui-kuen and Patrick Lam should have their convictions quashed

Authorities must stop using sedition charge to gag press freedom and other human rights  

‘There has rarely been a more dangerous time to work in media in the city’- Sarah Brooks

Responding to the sentencing to prison for sedition of Chung Pui-kuen and Patrick Lam - two former editors at the defunct Hong Kong media outlet Stand News, Sarah Brooks, Amnesty International’s China Director, said:

“The jailing of two journalists simply for doing their job makes this another bleak day for press freedom in Hong Kong.

“The fact they are the first journalists to be sentenced to jail on colonial-era ‘sedition’ charges since before the Hong Kong handover of 1997 indicates that there has rarely been a more dangerous time to work in media in the city.

“Just like the numerous other ‘sedition’ and national security convictions of activists, teachers and lawyers that we have seen in Hong Kong in recent years, today’s sentencing looks designed to reinforce a chilling effect that dissuades others in the city – and beyond – from criticising the authorities. It is rule by fear.

“Once again, we urge the Hong Kong authorities to stop using ‘sedition’ and other national security-related laws as a pretext to crack down on press freedom and other human rights. The two journalists sentenced today have committed no internationally recognised crime and their convictions should be quashed.”

Silencing press freedom

Former chief editor of Stand News Chung Pui-kuen was today sentenced to 21 months in prison and former acting chief editor Patrick Lam was sentenced to 11 months after being convicted last month of conspiring to publish "seditious" publications under Hong Kong’s sedition law. Because both have already spent almost a year in pre-trial detention, Lam will not be returned to prison but Chung will be.

The journalists’ prosecution along with Stand News’s parent company Best Pencil (Hong Kong) Limited was based on 17 allegedly seditious articles, including news reports, interviews, profiles, and opinion pieces. Stand News, a non-profit digital news outlet, ceased operating and deleted its website in December 2021 after its newsroom was raided by more than 200 national security police officers. 

The journalists’ trial began in October 2022 - its conclusion was postponed numerous times before the courts issued a long-awaited verdict last month; the sentencing was also delayed.