Hong Kong to sentence two journalists in sedition case

Chung Pui-kuen was found guilty in August, of conspiracy to publish seditious material. Pic/AFP

A Hong Kong court is set to sentence two senior journalists Thursday in a landmark sedition case that is widely seen as an indicator of media freedom in a city once known as a beacon of press freedom in Asia.

Stand News former editor-in-chief Chung Pui-kuen and former acting editor-in-chief Patrick Lam are the first journalists convicted under a colonial-era sedition law since the former British colony returned to Chinese rule in 1997.

The now-shuttered news outlet was one of the last in Hong Kong that dared to criticize authorities as Beijing imposed a crackdown on dissidents following massive pro-democracy protests in 2019.

The closure came months after the demise of pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily, whose jailed founder Jimmy Lai is battling collusion charges under a tough national security law imposed by Beijing in 2020.

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