Press Release
26 September 2024
Today’s imposition of jail sentences on editors of the now closed online news portal, Stand News, marks another body blow to freedom of expression in Hong Kong.
Chung Pui-kuen, former editor-in-chief, was jailed for 21 months while Patrick Lam, the former acting editor in chief, who has already served 10 months in pre-trial detention, was released on grounds of ill health and in view of his temporary appointment to the post.
They were convicted under colonial-era sedition laws which have rarely been used in recent times. We note with considerable alarm that since this long running trial began new national security legislation has been imposed carrying much harsher penalties of up to 10 years in jail for offences of this kind.
The so called ‘seditious’ articles for which the journalists were convicted were mostly opinion pieces of a kind that would not be deemed to be a danger to the state in free societies and indeed had been widely tolerated in Hong Kong prior to the crackdown on freedom of speech after 2020. Equally worrying is that this decision also outlaws reporting on protest leaders and descriptions of protests.
Joseph Ngan, Chair of Hong Kong Media Overseas, said, ‘This case, with its landmark ruling outlawing criticism of the government, makes clear that Hong Kong has come fully into line with laws prevailing in Mainland China where any attempt to criticize the government is met with incarceration. Hong Kong was promised freedom of speech following the end of colonial rule. This promise is now a distant memory’.
Note to Editors
Hong Kong Media Overseas (HKMO) is the representative organisation of media employees formerly working in Hong Kong. It is committed to the restoration of a free media in the HKSAR.
For further information contact info@hkmo.org.uk