Hong Kong journalists sentenced for 'sedition' and promoting 'illegal ideologies'

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Two pro-democracy journalists in Hong Kong have been sentenced to prison for "seditious" activities and "illegal ideologies."

Chung Pui-kuen, 55, and Patrick Lam, 36, were found guilty in August of conspiring to publish seditious materials through their Stand News media outlet. 

Chung was the former editor-in-chief of Stand News and received a 21-month prison sentence.

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Patrick Lam (2nd R), the former acting chief editor of Hong Kong's now shuttered pro-democracy news outlet Stand News, arrives at the district court in Hong Kong for sentencing after he was found guilty, in late August 2024, of conspiracy to publish seditious publications.  (ISAAC LAWRENCE/AFP via Getty Images)

Lam, Chung's successor, was sentenced to 14 months but had his time reduced due to a variety of factors, such as his time served pre-trial and his health conditions.

The two men are the first journalists convicted of such crimes in Hong Kong since the United Kingdom handed over the nation state to Chinese rule in 1997.

Best Pencil, the publication's parent company, was also convicted.

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Chung Pui-kuen, the former chief editor of Hong Kong's now shuttered pro-democracy news outlet Stand News, leaves the district court in Hong Kong after he was found guilty of conspiracy to publish seditious publications.  (PETER PARKS/AFP via Getty Images)

"The three defendants were not conducting genuine media work, but participating in the so-called resistance," District Court Judge Kwok Wai-kin claimed.

Hong Kong was placed under a national security law in the years following the 2019 protest movement as Beijing began to crack down on pro-democracy voices throughout China. 

The Safeguarding National Security Bill, passed in March, offers punishments for treason and insurrection with life imprisonment and allows for punishment for possession of treasonous publications with time in prison. 

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(Left) Former Chief Editor of Stand News Chung Pui-kuen and (Right) Former Acting Chief Editor of Stand News Patrick Lam posing for a photo in front of the Wan Chai District Court in Hong Kong, China.  (Vernon Yuen/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

"We didn’t have a hidden agenda, or any other goals that you couldn’t see," Chung said in his trial last year, according to The New York Times. "We saw very important events with a lot of public interest; we only wanted to document them."

In May, 14 pro-democracy activists in Hong Kong were also convicted in a national security case.

Fox News Digital's Jeffrey Clark and The Associated Press contributed to this report.