One ex-Stand News editor jailed, another freed

Two former editors of the now-defunct Stand News were on Thursday given jail sentences for sedition, but one of them walked free from the District Court due to time spent on remand and poor health. Former editor-in-chief Chung Pui-kuen and ex-acting chief editor Patrick Lam were convicted last month of conspiring to publish and reproduce seditious publications between 2020 and 2021. They were the first journalists to be convicted of sedition since Hong Kong's return to the motherland in 1997. Stand News' parent company, Best Pencil Limited, was also found guilty of the same offence. District Judge Kwok Wai-kin sentenced Chung to 21 months in prison. He handed down a 14-month term for Lam, but ordered his immediate release after considering the former editor’s 10 months on remand and his need to regularly seek medical help for a rare disease. The parent company was fined HK$5,000. Founded in 2014, Stand News closed down in December 2021 after police raided the online news outlet's office and froze its assets.

One ex-Stand News editor jailed, another freed

One ex-Stand News editor jailed, another freed

One ex-Stand News editor jailed, another freed

One ex-Stand News editor jailed, another freed

One ex-Stand News editor jailed, another freed