Former Hong Kong editors of a prodemocracy news outlet were found guilty of sedition yesterday. The conviction is the first application of the British colonial-era law since the territory's 1997 handover to mainland China.
Chung Pui-kuen and Patrick Lam were editors-in-chief of Stand News, an online media outlet whose popularity skyrocketed amid the 2019 prodemocracy protests. Prosecutors said 17 articles during and after this protest period smeared law enforcement; a judge found 11 carried seditious content in particular. Stand News shut down following a December 2021 police raid on its offices, part of a wave of news media closures in Hong Kong amid a crackdown on dissent.
The editors face a prison sentence of up to two years and a fine of about $640 next month. The law under which the editors were charged is separate from Hong Kong's 2020 national security law; an updated version of that law extends the maximum sentence for sedition to seven years.
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