HONG KONG — A Hong Kong court sentenced a previous editor of a shuttered news publication to 21 months in jail on Thursday in a sedition case that is extensively seen as an sign of media liberty in the city, when hailed as a beacon of press liberty in Asia. A 2nd editor was released after his sentence was decreased since of ill health and time currently served in custody.
Former Stand News editor-in-chief Chung Pui-kuen and previous acting editor-in-chief Patrick Lam are the veryfirst reporters foundedguilty under a colonial-era sedition law giventhat the previous British nest returned to Chinese guideline in1997 Chung was sentenced to 21 months, while Lam was likewise sentenced however permitted to go totallyfree.
The news outlet was one of last in Hong Kong that attempted to slam authorities as Beijing enforced a crackdown on dissidents following huge pro-democracy demonstrations in2019
The closure came months after the death of pro-democracy paper Apple Daily, whose imprisoned creator Jimmy Lai is fighting collusion charges under a hard nationwide security law enforced by Beijing in2020
Last month, the court discovered Chung and Lam guilty of conspiracy to release and recreate seditious products, along with Best Pencil (Hong Kong) Ltd., Stand News’ holding business. They dealtwith up to 2 years in jail and a fine of 5,000 Hong Kong dollars (about $640).
Judge Kwok Wai-kin started the sentencing hearing 2 hours after the arranged time. The reporters’ legalrepresentative, Audrey Eu, askedfor a sentence mitigation, stating Lam hadactually been identified with a uncommon illness and she was worried that he might not be dealtwith by the healthcenter handling his case if he were sentout to prison onceagain.
She argued that they be sentenced to up to time served, stating their case was various duetothefactthat they were reporters whose responsibilities were to report various individuals’s views. The set were apprehended for almost a year after their arrests before being launched on bail in late2022
In his sentencing, Kwok stated the accuseds were not real reporters however had tookpart in the area’s resistance motion.
Kwok composed in his decision in Au