Chung Pui-kuen sentenced to 21 months while Patrick Lam gets 11-month term but is released on medical grounds
Patrick Lam, former acting chief editor of Stand News, and Chung Pui-kuen, former editor-in-chief, outside the court in Hong Kong.Patrick Lam, former acting chief editor of Stand News, and Chung Pui-kuen, former editor-in-chief, outside the court in Hong Kong.The former editor-in-chief of Hong Kong’s Stand News has been sentenced to jail on sedition charges for the publication of news reports and other articles that prosecutors said tried to promote “illegal ideologies”.
On Thursday, the district court sentenced Chung to 21 months in prison, meaning he will have to serve another 10 months. Lam was released after the judge said he had factored in his poor health and other mitigating factors, including his short time in the role overseeing the outlet. Lam’s defence team had told the court earlier that a deteriorating kidney condition meant “any mistakes or delay in treatment could endanger his life”,. In October 2022, they pleaded not guilty.
However, the court had found 11 articles – mostly opinion pieces – published by Stand News to be seditious. The 11 were drawn from 17 that prosecutors had said sought to promote “illegal ideologies” and to incite hatred against the governments in Hong Kong andand the 2020 national security law. The judge found Chung responsible for publishing 10 of the offending pieces, and Lam one.
Launched in 2014, Stand News had been a significant source of news about the 2019 pro-democracy protests and the harsh crackdown by authorities, and was seen by Hongkongers as one of the city’s most credible outlets, according to surveys. Its reporters had been on the frontline of reporting protests including those that turned violent.
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