Former editor-in-chief Chung Pei-kuen stated that freedom of speech shouldn’t be restricted on the grounds of “eradicating harmful concepts”.
A Hong Kong courtroom has discovered two former editors of now-defunct pro-democracy information outlet Stand Information responsible of sedition, a landmark case that comes amid a safety crackdown within the Chinese language-ruled metropolis.
District Court docket Decide Kwok Wai-kin introduced the decision on Thursday, declaring former editor-in-chief Chung Pei-kuen and former performing editor-in-chief Lin Pak-keung responsible of conspiracy to publish a seditious publication primarily based on 17 articles.
The choose didn’t instantly hand down a sentence, however the pair now resist two years in jail and a advantageous of HK$5,000 (about US$640) below a colonial-era sedition regulation.
Laura Westbrook, an Al Jazeera reporter from Hong Kong, stated the trial was “seen as a litmus take a look at for press freedom in Hong Kong,” noting that it was the primary sedition trial in opposition to a Hong Kong journalist for the reason that former British colony was returned to China in 1997. Yr.
“Folks will see this verdict as one other worrying signal that … the freedoms loved in Hong Kong are slowly diminishing,” she stated, referring to journalists and worldwide information organizations.
Stand Information shut down in 2021 after a large police raid on its places of work resulted within the arrest of two journalists and 5 employees members.
It was one of many final retailers within the metropolis to overtly criticize the federal government amid a crackdown on dissent that adopted large pro-democracy protests in 2019.
“Eliminating Harmful Ideas”
The sedition case facilities on 17 articles, together with tales that includes pro-democracy former politicians Legislation Kwun Chung and Hui Siu-fung, who have been among the many abroad activists for whom Hong Kong police supplied bounties in trade for his or her arrest.
Different articles embrace interviews with three members within the pro-democracy 2020 primaries, in addition to commentary by Luo Weilun and veteran journalists Ou Junjie and Chen Peiwen.
Prosecutors claimed that a few of the articles helped promote “unlawful ideologies” and smear the safety regulation and regulation enforcement officers. They describe Stand Information as a political platform and on-line information outlet.
Chung stated in the course of the trial that “freedom of speech shouldn’t be restricted for the aim of eliminating harmful concepts, however ought to be used to get rid of harmful concepts.” Through the trial, he denied that Stand Information was a political platform. His former colleague Lin didn’t seem in courtroom.
The shop’s holding firm, Finest Pencil (Hong Kong) Ltd, was additionally convicted of the identical offence. The corporate is just not represented in the course of the trial, which begins in October 2022.
The shutdown of Stand Information comes simply months after the closure of the pro-democracy Apple Day by day, whose jailed founder Jimmy Lai is combating conspiracy costs below a sweeping nationwide safety regulation enacted in 2020.
Days after the shutdown, unbiased information outlet Citizen Information additionally introduced it could stop operations, citing the deteriorating media surroundings and potential dangers to its employees.
Hong Kong ranked one hundred and thirty fifth out of 180 areas in Reporters With out Borders’ newest World Press Freedom Index, down from eightieth in 2021.
In March, the town authorities enacted one other new safety regulation that many journalists feared may additional limit media freedom.
The Hong Kong authorities insists that Hong Kong nonetheless enjoys press freedom assured by the mini-constitution.
