Chung Pui-kuen, the former chief editor of Hong Kong’s now-shuttered outlet Stand News, walks outside on bail after he was found guilty in a landmark sedition trial under a colonial-era law, in Wanchai District Court in Hong Kong on August 29, 2024.
| Photo Credit: AP

Hong Kong pro-democracy news outlet Stand News and its two former chief editors were found guilty of sedition on Thursday, the first conviction of its kind since the city came under Chinese rule in 1997.

The verdict is part of a crackdown on free speech in the former British colony that has seen critics of China jailed or forced into exile, following huge pro-democracy protests in 2019.

Editors Chung Pui-kuen, 54, and Patrick Lam, 36, are the first journalists to be convicted of sedition since Britain handed Hong Kong over to China in 1997, and the ruling drew resounding international condemnation.

Mr. Chung and Mr. Lam were in charge of Stand News, a Chinese-language website that gained a massive following during the protests in 2019. On Thursday, the court said the pair were guilty of “conspiracy to publish and reproduce seditious publications”.

The judge granted the duo bail before their sentencing on September 26.