Chung Pui-kuen and Patrick Lam were convicted last week by Hong Kong District Court Judge Kwok Wai-Kin on charges of "conspiracy to publish and reproduce seditious publications," per NPR. The charge of sedition includes "inciting hatred or contempt against the Chinese central government [and] the Hong Kong government." Following their convictions, the two journalists each face a maximum of two years in prison and a fine of HK$5000 (or $640).
Pui-kuen and Lam, the former editors in chief of Stand News, which shut down following a 200-officer police raid in December 2021, had charges brought against them in October 2022 for 17 articles published from July 2020 to December 2021. Prosecutors alleged these articles, including "opinion pieces criticizing the national security law" and "interviews with former pro-democracy lawmakers," promoted "illegal ideologies" and smeared the 2020 National Security Law (NSL) during the 2019 protests.
