A Hong Kong court has sentenced former editor-in-chief of Stand News, Chung Pui-kuen to 21 months in prison, while former acting Editor-in-chief Patrick Lam was released after his sentence was reduced because of ill health.
The two are the first journalists to be convicted for conspiracy to publish and reproduce seditious publications under a colonial-era sedition law since Hong Kong returned to Chinese rule in 1997.
Judge Kwok Wai-kin wrote in his verdict in August that Stand News which has now closed down, had become a tool for smearing the Hong Kong and Chinese governments during huge pro-democracy protests in 2019
The online news outlet was one of the last in Hong Kong that dared to criticize authorities as Beijing imposed a crackdown on dissidents following massive pro-democracy protests in 2019.
