在亚洲新闻自由的一盏明灯、前英国殖民地香港被归还给中国之后，首起记者因涉嫌煽动罪而被判刑的案件于周四定案。曾担任关闭出版物《立场新闻》主编之一的钟沛君，和原副主编梁启智，均是自1997年香港回归以来首批遭此判决的媒体人。
现年62岁的前《立场新闻》执行主编钟沛君被判监禁21个月，预计服刑时间将约为实际监禁期的三分之一（约10个月），考虑到其事前已被羁押。梁启智则被宣判罪名成立但获准保释离场。
作为香港为数不多仍敢于批评政府的在线新闻网站，《立场新闻》在2019年大规模民主运动后，北京对异议人士实施镇压之际，继续对当局发表质疑声音。该网站在2021年12月关闭前，是与政府相对立势力中的最后堡垒之一。
其关闭事件发生于香港亲民主报纸《苹果日报》倒闭数月之后，这家创办人黎智英因涉嫌串谋勾结而遭羁押，黎智英则是在北京2020年颁布的一部严格国家安全法后被捕的。
上个月，法庭裁定钟沛君、梁启智与「笔克（香港）有限公司」涉嫌共谋刊印及复制煽动材料罪名成立。「笔克（香港）有限公司」是《立场新闻》的所有公司。他们面临最长两年监禁及5000港元罚款的刑期。
法官郭伟权在原定开审时间后两小时才开始宣判听证。代表律师欧婉仪请求从轻发落，她指出梁启智已被诊断出患有罕见疾病，担心他如再次入狱将无法获得处理其案件的医院治疗。辩护方表示，他们的刑期应等于实际羁押时长，并强调自己作为记者履行着报道不同观点的任务。
在2022年底被捕后不久获保释前，被告被拘留近一年时间。法官郭伟权驳回了被告无意触法的辩词，指责他们支持示威者。他表示，《立场新闻》拥有广泛的读者群，其刊发煽动材料对北京和香港政府造成了严重伤害。
“三人并未从事真实的媒体工作，而是参与了当时所谓的抵抗运动。”法官郭伟权说。
在法庭上，前《立场新闻》读者元朗表示，他出席听审是为了表达支持，虽然感觉像是参加了一场葬礼。“我们所拥有的都已失去，”他说。
审判于去年10月开始，历时约50天。判决曾数次推迟，原因包括等待另一宗标志性煽动案件的上诉结果。
人权组织在周四宣判后迅速表达了对香港新闻自由状况的担忧。
香港记者协会表示，这些判决反映新闻自由不断衰退，以及记者面临的真实威胁。
“维护国家安全没有问题，但允许记者发声并让社会自由表达对于保持香港繁荣稳定是必要的。”该机构在一份声明中说。
媒体监督组织报告了无边界亚洲太平洋地区主任塞德里克·阿尔维尼亚说，钟沛君和梁启智服务于公众利益，本不应该被拘留。他呼吁国际社会增加压力，要求中国政府释放钟和其他在香港被捕的记者。
国际特赦组织中国部主任莎拉·布鲁克斯指出，对于仅因履行工作职责而判刑而言，“这是香港新闻自由又一个黑暗日子”。
政府在一份声明中表示，判决已维护正义，并称自宣判以来，外国媒体和反华政治家及团体作出失实言论，诋毁了香港城市。
最新全球新闻自由指数显示，香港在全球180个地区中的排名为第135位，在2021年降至第80位，而2002年的排名则是第18位。近年来，随着对异议声浪的政治打压加剧，自我审查现象变得更为普遍，并且最近几个月报告有更多针对记者的骚扰事件。
为了进一步担心新闻自由受限，今年3月，该城市政府实施了另一项新的安全法，引发了对香港媒体自由进一步萎缩的担忧。
香港官员坚称这两部安全法律是必要的稳定手段，声称在报道事实的情况下没有限制新闻自由。
新闻来源：www.abcnews.go.com
原文地址：Hong Kong court sentences editor to 21 months in jail in a case seen as a barometer of press freedom
新闻日期：2024-09-26
原文摘要：
A Hong Kong court sentenced a former editor of a shuttered news publication to 21 months in prison on Thursday in a sedition case widely seen as an indicator of media freedom in the city, once hailed as a beacon of press freedom in Asia. A second editor was freed after his sentence was reduced because of ill health and time already served in custody. Former Stand News editor-in-chief Chung Pui-kuen and former acting editor-in-chief Patrick Lam are the first journalists convicted under a colonial-era sedition law since the former British colony returned to Chinese rule in 1997. Chung was sentenced to 21 months but is expected to stay in prison for about 10 months given his pre-conviction detention. Lam was also sentenced but allowed to go free. The online news outlet was one of the last in Hong Kong that dared to criticize authorities as Beijing imposed a crackdown on dissidents following massive pro-democracy protests in 2019. Its closure in December 2021 came months after the demise of the pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily, whose jailed founder Jimmy Lai is battling collusion charges under a tough national security law imposed by Beijing in 2020. Last month, the court found Chung and Lam guilty of conspiracy to publish and reproduce seditious materials, along with Best Pencil (Hong Kong) Ltd., Stand News' holding company. They faced up to two years in prison and a fine of 5,000 Hong Kong dollars (about $640). The company was fined that amount. Judge Kwok Wai-kin began Thursday's sentencing hearing two hours after the scheduled time. The journalists' lawyer, Audrey Eu, requested sentence mitigation, saying Lam had been diagnosed with a rare disease and she was concerned that he could not be treated by the hospital handling his case if he were sent to jail again. She argued that they should be sentenced to up to time served, saying their case was different because they were journalists whose duties were to report different people’s views. The defendants were detained for nearly a year after their arrests before being released on bail in late 2022. In his sentencing, Kwok dismissed the defense's argument that the journalists had unintentionally fallen afoul of the law, and accused them of siding with the protesters. Since Stand News had a mass following, the seditious articles caused serious harm to the Beijing and Hong Kong governments, he said. “The three defendants were not engaged in genuine media work but were instead participating in the so-called resistance of that time,” he said. Eu told the court that the articles in question represented only a small portion of what Stand News had published. The defendants also stressed their journalistic mission in their mitigation letters. On Thursday morning, dozens of people waited in line to secure a seat in the courtroom. Former Stand News reader Andrew Wong said he wanted to attend the hearing to show his support, though he felt it was like “attending a funeral.” Wong, who works in a non-governmental organization, said he expected the convictions last month, but still felt “a sense that we've passed a point of no return" when he heard the verdict. “Everything we had in the past is gone," he said. Their trial, which began in October 2022, lasted some 50 days. The verdict was postponed several times for reasons including a wait for an appeal outcome in another landmark sedition case. Rights groups swiftly expressed concern about media freedom in the city after Thursday's sentencing. The Hong Kong Journalists Association said the sentences reflect the ongoing decline of press freedom and the real dangers faced by journalists. “There is nothing wrong with safeguarding national security, but allowing journalists to speak out and enabling society to speak freely is necessary to maintain Hong Kong’s prosperity and stability,” it said in a statement. Cédric Alviani, Asia-Pacific director for media watchdog Reporters Without Borders, said Chung and Lam were serving the public’s interest and should never have been detained. He urged the international community to increase pressure on China to secure the release of Chung and other journalists detained in the city. Amnesty International’s China director, Sarah Brooks, said the sentences given to the defendants “simply for doing their job makes this another bleak day for press freedom in Hong Kong." The government said in a statement that justice was upheld in the sentencing, adding that foreign media and both anti-China politicians and organizations have made false comments to smear the city since the verdict was delivered. Hong Kong was ranked 135 out of 180 territories in Reporters Without Borders’ latest World Press Freedom Index, down from 80 in 2021 and 18 in 2002. Self-censorship has also become more common during the political crackdown on dissent following the 2019 protests, with increased reports of harassment against journalists in recent months. In March, the city government enacted another new security law that raised concerns about further curtailment of press freedom. Hong Kong officials insist the two security laws are necessary to maintain stability and that there are no restrictions on media freedom when journalists report the facts. __ Follow AP's Asia-Pacific coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/asia-pacific
