On September 26, Wan Chai District Court Judge Kwok Wai-kin sentenced Chung Pui-Kuen and Patrick Lam, former editors of the shuttered independent news site Stand News, to 21 and 11 months in prison respectively, after they were found guilty of sedition on August 29. Lam was released immediately on medical grounds and for time already served over the two-year trial.

The trial, which began in October 2022 and was originally scheduled for 20 days, lasted 22 months in total. On August 29, 2024, Judge Kwok determined that 11 out of 17 articles published by Stand News were ‘seditious’ and that the outlet posed a danger to national security. Both journalists were convicted of conspiracy to publish and reproduce seditious materials under sections 10 (1)(c), 159A and 159C of the Crimes Ordinance.

Best Pencil (Hong Kong) Ltd., the holding company of Stand News, was also found guilty of sedition and fined HKD 5,000 (approximately USD 650).

The Hong Kong Journalists Association (HKJA) released a statement on September 26 condemning the sentencing as indicative of the ongoing decline of press freedom in Hong Kong.

The case marks a significant moment in Hong Kong's media landscape, representing the first trial and national security-related conviction of a media outlet and individual journalists since the territory’s handover from the United Kingdom to the People’s Republic of China in 1997. Stand News, a non-profit digital news outlet, ceased operations in December 2021 after its newsroom was raided by over 200 national security officers, leading to the deletion of its website.

The IFJ said: “The recent sentencing of Chung Pui-Luen and Patrick Lam underscores the alarming decline of press freedom in Hong Kong seen since 2020. Journalists and media workers must be able to perform their duties without fear of retribution. This decision will only serve to inspire further self-censorship among the city’s embattled media community.”