Chung Pui-kuen, former chief editor of the now-defunct Hong Kong outlet Stand NewsWalking out on bail after being found guilty in a landmark treason trial under a colonial-era law, at the Wanchai District Court in Hong Kong on August 29, 2024. | Photo credit: AP
Hong Kong pro-democracy news outlets Stand News And its two former editors-in-chief were found guilty of treason on Thursday, the first convictions of their kind since the city came under Chinese rule in 1997.
The decision is part of a crackdown on free speech in the former British colony, which has seen China critics jailed or forced into exile following massive pro-democracy protests in 2019.
Editors Chung Pui-kuen, 54, and Patrick Lam, 36, are the first journalists to be convicted of treason since Britain handed over Hong Kong to China in 1997, and the verdicts drew strong international condemnation.
Mr. Chung and Mr. Lam were in charge of it Stand Newsa Chinese-language website that gained a massive following during protests in 2019. On Thursday, the court said the two were guilty of “conspiracy to publish and reproduce seditious publications.”
The judge granted bail to both of them ahead of sentencing on September 26.