Hong Kong prepares for Stand News verdict in latest media freedom test

Two Hong Kong journalists volition larn the result this week of their landmark sedition trial, whose verdict could acceptable the code for the aboriginal of journalism successful the Chinese city.

The 2 journalists, Chung Pui-kuen and Patrick Lam, are erstwhile editors of the now-closed autarkic quality outlet, Stand News. They look up to 2 years successful situation if recovered blameworthy nether Hong Kong’s colonial-era sedition laws.

The brace were arrested by Hong Kong’s nationalist information constabulary successful December 2021 on with 5 different Stand News unit and committee members, including Denise Ho, a popular vocalist turned salient pro-democracy activist, and Margaret Ng, a wide respected erstwhile person and barrister.

Sedition laws were introduced successful Hong Kong erstwhile it was a British colony but had lain dormant until 2020 erstwhile Beijing imposed caller nationalist information laws successful effect to months of antigovernment protests a twelvemonth earlier.

Along with caller crimes similar “collusion with overseas forces” oregon “subversion,” prosecutors began charging Hong Kong radical with the transgression of “sedition” for the archetypal clip successful much than 50 years.

While not the archetypal sedition proceedings since the information instrumentality triggered a governmental oversea change, Chung and Lam’s proceedings volition beryllium intimately watched arsenic it is the archetypal to woody straight with journalism and media, according to a Hong Kong-based perceiver who has followed the case.

The perceiver told Al Jazeera that the judges successful their ruling volition person to specify what is considered “legitimate reporting” and what is considered “inciting hatred” against the government.

“The anticipation is that it’s the archetypal sedition proceedings related to journalism, truthful we tin expect that the justice would request to gully a enactment betwixt what is acceptable and not acceptable journalism, particularly if they so find the defendants guilty,” the idiosyncratic said, asking to not beryllium identified for fearfulness of nonrecreational repercussions.

Prosecutors impeach Chung and Lam of conspiring to people 17 seditious articles and op-eds that were captious of the government, and that made Stand News a “political platform” alternatively than an autarkic media outlet. The articles included quality reports astir Hong Kong’s pro-democracy campy and commentary from governmental figures surviving successful exile.

Former Stand News main exertion Chung Pui-kuen (right) and erstwhile acting exertion Patrick Lam volition find retired their destiny connected Thursday [File: Louise Delmotte/AP Photo]

During the trial, defence counsel Audrey Eu argued that not lone did Chung and Lam not constitute the articles successful question, the prosecution had failed to beryllium however they posed “any existent hazard to nationalist security” oregon served arsenic a governmental platform.

She said the quality outlet’s enactment was successful the nationalist interest, and its work arsenic the “Fourth Estate” was to scrutinise the Hong Kong authorities with the anticipation it would amended governance.

Eu besides criticised the prosecution’s irregular behaviour during the trial, which included relying connected astir 600 caller pieces of grounds during their cross-examinations and closing arguments that they did not taxable earlier the proceedings began.

Eric Lai, a probe chap with the Georgetown Center for Asian Law, notes sedition charges person had a 100 percent condemnation complaint since they were revived, He expects Chung and Lam, who person spent astir a twelvemonth successful custody earlier they were granted bail astatine the commencement of proceedings proceedings, volition besides beryllium recovered guilty.

“I don’t expect a rights-respecting result fixed the illiberal inclination of Hong Kong courts’ rulings since 2020. They bash not admit and adjacent equilibrium the extortion of cardinal quality rights similar escaped code and escaped look with an overbroad nationalist information docket of the government,” Lai told Al Jazeera.

‘Silencing autarkic voices’

Stand News unopen down soon aft the constabulary raided its offices successful December 2021. The outlet besides deleted its archive online.

While a comparatively tiny outlet, its swift demise reverberated beyond Hong Kong arsenic the latest denotation of however the city, erstwhile regarded arsenic the freest successful Asia, was changing.

At the clip it closed, Stand News was 1 of the fewer pro-democracy quality outlets inactive successful operation. The fashionable Apple Daily tabloid had folded six months earlier aft hundreds of nationalist information constabulary raided its newsroom and arrested elder executives and laminitis Jimmy Lai.

The Stand News crackdown was criticised by rights groups and immoderate Western authorities officials, including US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who described the outlet arsenic “one of the fewer remaining bastions of escaped and autarkic media” successful Hong Kong.

“By silencing autarkic media, [Chinese] and section authorities undermine Hong Kong’s credibility and viability.  A assured authorities that is unafraid of the information embraces a escaped press,” Blinken said astatine the time.

In response, then-leader Carrie Lam denied the media was being targeted and said releasing those arrested would beryllium against the regularisation of law.

Shortly aft the raid connected Stand News, the autarkic quality outlet Citizen News besides voluntarily unopen down, citing concerns astir Hong Kong’s “deteriorating media environment”. They were followed by 4 different autarkic quality outlets, according to the media watchdog Reporters Without Borders, which monitors Hong Kong’s media landscape.

The city’s property state ranking fell from 73 retired of 180 territories and countries successful RSF’s 2019 yearly World Press Freedom Index to 135 past year, conscionable supra South Sudan.

“Once a bastion of property freedom, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China has suffered an unprecedented bid of setbacks since 2020, erstwhile Beijing adopted a nationalist information instrumentality aimed astatine silencing autarkic voices,” the media watchdog said.

Stand News unopen down and deleted its online archive aft a constabulary raid successful December 2021 [Vincent Yu/AP Photo]

The autumn is adjacent greater erstwhile measured against 2002, 5 years aft Hong Kong’s handover to China and the archetypal twelvemonth the scale was compiled by RSF. At that time, Hong Kong ranked fig 18.

Foreign media person besides started moving positions antecedently based successful Hong Kong to places including South Korea and Taiwan.

The section and planetary outlets that stay person sometimes recovered themselves successful blistery water.

In 2022, the Hong Kong Foreign Correspondents’ Club scrapped its Human Rights Press Awards implicit fears they mightiness “unintentionally” interruption section laws amid plans to recognise Stand News with respective prizes.

The awards person since moved to Taiwan, on with galore journalists covering East Asia.

Last month, The Wall Street Journal fired Hong Kong newsman Selina Cheng soon aft she was elected president of the Hong Kong Journalists Association, aft reportedly asking Cheng to measurement down from the station oregon suffer her position.

Cheng said the US paper told her its employees “should not beryllium seen arsenic advocating for property state successful a spot similar Hong Kong”.

The relation earlier drew the ire of Hong Kong information main Chris Tang for “siding” with protesters successful 2019. He besides accused the organisation of accepting backing from the US government.

The Journal antecedently told Al Jazeera that Cheng’s presumption was made redundant erstwhile the insubstantial moved its Asian office from Hong Kong to Singapore.

Meanwhile, the Hong Kong authorities has further tightened the sedition laws, which they accidental are indispensable to guarantee the media does not “endanger” nationalist security.

In April, it passed a section mentation of the nationalist information law, known arsenic Article 23.

The caller instrumentality adds respective caller offences, including treason, sabotage, and espionage, and allows constabulary to clasp suspects for up to 16 days without charge. Sedition has besides been added, and its scope expanded to see “inciting hatred” against the Chinese Communist Party.

Maximum penalties person been raised from a maximum of 2 years’ imprisonment to 7 years, oregon 10 years for cases involving “external forces” similar overseas governments, according to Amnesty International.

Hong Kong person John Lee said Article 23, which a erstwhile medication had to shelve aft wide protests, would assistance to further safeguard the metropolis from problems similar governmental unrest, sabotage and overseas infiltration.

The authorities claimed the provisions were akin to laws passed by Australia, the United Kingdom and Singapore to tackle covert and overt overseas power implicit their governmental systems.

Regina Ip, a subordinate of the city’s pro-Beijing legislative council, wrote successful an April op-ed successful the section South China Morning Post that Hong Kong had a “constitutional, ineligible and motivation work to safeguard nationalist security” and had failed to bash truthful since abandoning the authorities astir 27 years before.

“Offences similar treason, sedition, espionage and theft of authorities secrets person been connected our statute books for decades,” she wrote. “But galore provisions are ineffective and outdated. For some law and applicable reasons, Hong Kong needs to update existing laws.”