Hong Kong court jails 2 former Stand News editors for up to 21 months for sedition

After already spending time in prison, Chung Pui-kuen will serve nine months, while Patrick Lam walked out of court a free man

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Chung Pui-kuen, former chief editor of Hong Kong’s Stand News, arrives at the District Court in Wan Chai to face sentencing. Photo: May Tse

Published: 7:26pm, 26 Sep 2024Updated: 3:33pm, 27 Sep 2024

Two former editors of the now-defunct Stand News in Hong Kong have been sentenced to up to 21 months in prison for conspiring to publish seditious articles, with one being given immediate release as he suffered from a rare disease.

The District Court judge handed down his sentence on Thursday, almost a month after the journalists were found guilty in the landmark case, the first involving media professionals being charged under a colonial-era sedition law since Hong Kong’s return to Chinese rule in 1997.

Former editor-in-chief Chung Pui-kuen, 55, and ex-acting editor-in-chief Patrick Lam Shiu-tung, 36, remained calm as they heard their prison terms announced in the packed court. Lam’s wife shed tears in the public gallery.

Judge Kwok Wai-kin sentenced Chung to 21 months and considered 14 months as the starting point for Lam, while further deducting three months due to his medical condition.

The pair were incarcerated before securing bail in the middle of the trial. Having already spent up to a year behind bars, Chung will serve a remaining nine months, while Lam avoided his remaining term of 21 days, as the judge considered his need to treat his rare disease.