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Writing to the Hong Kong court that convicted him of sedition, former Stand News editor Patrick Lam said he regretted not getting the chance to tell police officers about independent journalism.
Lam and his former colleague Chung Pui-kuen, both former top editors of the now-shuttered Stand News, will learn their sentences Thursday after being found guilty last month in a landmark case widely seen as a barometer of media freedom in Hong Kong.
He was the first journalist convicted of sedition since the former British colony returned to Chinese rule in 1997. He was jailed for up to two years and fined 5,000 Hong Kong dollars (about $640) under colonial-era sedition laws. has been increasingly used to suppress dissent.
Stand News was one of the last media outlets in the city to openly criticize the government as authorities cracked down on dissent following anti-government protests in 2019.
The online outlet, which was founded in 2014, emerged at a time when the city’s news industry has experienced increased censorship and interference, according to Lam’s mitigation letter, read in court by lawyer Audrey Eu in August.
Every reporter at Stand News strives to run a news outlet with full editorial independence, Lam wrote, even on the last day.
“Our freedom is counting backwards. Every colleague knows it very well. They choose to stay, accelerate and use every space left in the narrow gap,” Lam said in the letter.
The gap was closed for Stand News in December 2021, just a few months after the pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily closed. The founder is fighting charges of collusion under a national security law that Beijing implemented in 2020.
The police raided the Stand News office. Lam and Chung were arrested. The outlet was closed on the same day.
Lam wrote that during his arrest, a police officer described his position, saying that “we each serve our own master.” Describing the exchange, Lam wrote, “I regret not taking the opportunity to explain to the police officers that journalists should not be loyal to anyone, support anyone, or be enemies with anyone. If we really have loyal people, we can only be common, and must be common.
In August, Lam and Chung were convicted of conspiracy to publish and produce disruptive publications, along with Best Pencil (Hong Kong) Ltd., the parent company for Stand News.
Judge Kwok Wai-kin wrote in his ruling that the outlet had been a tool to undermine the Beijing and Hong Kong governments during the 2019 protests. He ruled that 11 articles published under the leadership of Lam and Chung carried seditious intent, including comments written by activists Nathan Law and famous journalists Allan Au and Chan Pui-man.
Chan is also Chung’s wife and was previously charged in the Apple Daily case. He remains in custody awaiting sentencing.
Kwok said that Lam and Chung knew and agreed with the intention of sedition, and that they provided Stand News as a publication platform to incite hatred against the Beijing or Hong Kong government and the judiciary.
The belief quickly drew criticism from foreign governments. The Hong Kong government insists that there are no restrictions on media freedom when journalists report the facts.
Analysts said the ruling appeared to draw a new line for the city’s media practitioners, even as self-censorship became more common after drastic political changes brought about by the 2020 security law.
Many prominent pro-democracy activists have been arrested or forced into exile, and dozens of civil society groups have been disbanded. In March, the city introduced another security law, raising concerns about press freedom among journalists.
Selina Cheng, chairwoman of the Hong Kong Journalists Association, said she had not heard of any major changes in local newsrooms in the weeks following the verdict. Still, the association said the damage it had done to the city’s press was irreversible before the verdict was handed down.
Whatever the sentence, the case has changed the lives of Lam and Chung. He spent almost a year in custody after his arrest. The trial, which began in October 2022, lasted 50 days, and the verdict was postponed several times.
Lam did not attend the sentencing hearing last month due to health reasons. Her lawyer, Eu, said Lam, the father of the young girl, was diagnosed with a rare disease and had to undergo chemotherapy. He also missed opportunities to study abroad because of the case, he said.
In his letter, Lam defended his profession. He said journalists would be derelict in their duties if they did not report on matters the public needed to know.
“The only way for journalists to defend press freedom is to report,” he wrote.
Chung appeared calm in court after the sentencing. Eu told the court that his client has not had a job since the case began.
In the mitigation letter, Chung described her husband’s experience reporting on the massive earthquake that struck Japan in 2011. He said Chan told him that despite the dangerous situation, he refused to leave because he felt responsible for documenting the event.
His dedication to journalism was “etched in my heart,” he wrote.
He added that many Hong Kongers who are not journalists hold beliefs, and some have lost their own freedom because they care about the freedom of everyone in the community.
“Recording and reporting stories and thoughts accurately is a journalist’s irresponsible responsibility,” he said.
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Find more AP Asia-Pacific coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/asia-pacific
