Two Hong Kong Journalists Found Guilty of Sedition in Landmark Case

Two senior journalists, Chung Pui-kuen and Patrick Lam, former editors-in-chief of the now-defunct Stand News media outlet, have been convicted of sedition in a Hong Kong court. This verdict marks the first sedition case against journalists in Hong Kong since 1997 and has been widely condemned by rights groups as a crackdown on free speech. The court found that the two journalists used Stand News as a tool to "smear and vilify" the central government in Beijing and local authorities in Hong Kong. The conviction carries a maximum jail term of two years, making Chung and Lam the first journalists to be convicted under this charge since Hong Kong's return to Chinese control in 1997.