HK Govt. Accuses Stand News of Being a ‘Political Platform’ and Publishing ‘Inciting’ Articles

The trial of editors of the former Stand News began in Hong Kong on Oct. 31, 10 months after they were arrested and jailed. The three defendants were charged with conspiracy to publish and/or reproduce seditious articles from July 7, 2020 to Dec. 29, 2021.

Stand News was founded in December 2014 in Hong Kong, during the Umbrella Movement. Its charter was to operate as an independent voice with the primary aim of “protecting Hong Kong’s core values ​​of democracy, human rights, freedom, the rule of law, and justice.” The business model was to accept commercial advertisements and public sponsorship to support its long-term development.

On Dec. 29, 2021, the company’s assets were frozen by the National Security Office of the Hong Kong Police Force, and six incumbent and former senior executives were arrested, including editor-in-chief Chung Pui-kuen, directors Margaret Ng Ngoi-yee, Denise Ho Wan-see, Chow Tat-Chi, Christine Fang Meng-sang, and acting editor-in-chief Patrick Lam Shiu-tong.

Stand News was forced to cease operations, its website and all social media were stopped, and all staff were dismissed. The next day (Dec. 30), the UK branch of Stand News also announced that it would cease operations.

Chung Pui-kuen, Patrick Lam Shiu-tong, and Stand News’ company were charged with one count of “conspiracy to publish or reproduce seditious articles.” The case entered its second day of the trial on Nov. 1 in the District Court. In its opening statement, the prosecution claimed that Stand News was a political platform that “enhanced the ferocity” and strengthened the causes of anti-government issues by publishing 17 specified articles.

The defence said, on Oct. 31, that 10 of the 17 articles cited in the case exceeded the prosecution time limit. Kwok Wai-kin, the designated judge of the Hong Kong National Security Law who presided over the trial, refused to accept the argument on Nov. 1, saying he would accept all 17 articles as evidence, they will be presented as such in court, and the reasons for his decision will be promulgated during the ruling.

Acting Senior Assistant Criminal Prosecution Commissioner Laura Ng Shuk-kuen, who represented the prosecution, said in her opening statement that Stand News “is not just an online media, but a political platform.” The prosecution quoted Patrick Lam Shiu-tong, the deputy editor-in-chief, while attending a lecture in December 2019, as saying that he hoped to use their reports to make the public understand the anti-extradition movement better “so that we can have a common basis to discuss and evaluate, and even participate in this movement.”

The prosecution further divided interviews, blogs, and news reports into six categories, that covered the “pro-democracy 35+ primary election case, 12 Hong Kong people abscondment case, foreign forces advocate international sanctions, NSL’s relevant law enforcement actions and judicial procedures, the CUHK Riot Case, and malicious attacks on the Central Government and the administration.” The prosecution said that the publication and distribution of the articles by Stand News was intended for free readership by the public.

The 17 articles the prosecution referred to included six exclusive interviews with former district councillors, former legislators, and media workers, nine blog posts, and two commentary articles.

Numerous Charges

The prosecution said that the above articles were published after the implementation of the Hong Kong National Security Law (NSL). It thinks it is appropriate for the court to exercise its “judicial notice” because the large-scale violent confrontation in society seemed to have subsided, but there were still all sorts of “undercurrents and political bombs” going on behind the scenes. Further saying there was still the resistance of a large group of citizens at that time, “Local and foreign anti-China forces were still around in anticipation of a comeback to hype up social events, in an attempt to agitate the public to resort to all sorts of violence with armed forces, and illegal protests.”

All the defendants were accused of deliberately publishing the above-mentioned articles to “enhance the ferocity” and strengthen anti-government sentiment at the time.

The prosecution claimed that the interviews of Nathan Law Kwun-chung, Ted Hui Chi-fung, and Sixtus Leung Chung-hang, as well as Sunny Cheung Kwan-yang’s blog, were all events by people who advocated foreign sanctions while residing overseas; but Stand News packaged all of them as “human rights fighters.” At the same time, it also accused the blogs of Allan Au Ka-lun, Nathan Law Kwun-chung, and Chan Pui-man of arousing public hatred of police enforcement, prosecution, and judicial procedures.

Stand News was also accused of publishing an article on the second anniversary of the conflict between police and the students at the Chinese University of Hong Kong that “glorified violent behaviour” and “clearly wanted to rekindle the violent protests from cooling down.” The article was still available on the media’s website even after the police wrote to them accusing the article of being ‘inconsistent with the facts.”

Other “criminal evidence” against Stand News was its report on Tonyee Chow Hang-tung, vice chairperson of the HK Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China, being awarded the “Distinguished Person for Advancing Democracy in China Award” in early December 2021. The police said the report portrayed Chow as a human rights fighter and, as such, was an attempt to “attack the regime.”

In addition, after the candidates for the “Democratic 35+ Primary Election” were prosecuted, Stand News published Nathan Law’s blog, which the prosecution said was “appealing for grievances” and “awarding a halo” for the illegals.

Stand News ‘Well Supported’ in 2019

In its opening statement, the prosecution also stated that the company with which Stand News was affiliated had an income of HK$80 million (about $10.2 million) in 2019 (the year the anti-extradition movement occurred), and had 135,000 subscribers. These, when compared with the average numbers recorded between 2015 and 2018, were an increase of 10 and 27 times, respectively. Based on these figures, the prosecution believes that Stand News was well supported by a lot of like-minded people with similar political philosophies.

The trial is expected to take 20 days, and the prosecution will call 22 witnesses.

Case number: DCCC265/2022