香港法院近日裁定并宣布了一名前编辑和另一位高级编辑需分别承担 21个月及更短刑期的判决，他们分别是《立新闻》（Stand News）的创办人 Chung Pui-kuen 和 Patrick Lam。罪名是涉嫌“策划出版煽动性印刷品”的指控。根据该案件中认定的内容具有颠覆国家政权意图。
Chung Pui-kuen 受到的处罚接近最高刑期两年，而 Patrick Lam 获释条件宽松，可立即获得自由。这两位在新闻机构被关闭前已在羁押状态长达近一年时间后被保释出来。
对此事做出反应，Amnesty International 中国区负责人 Sarah Brooks 在电邮声明中指出：“城市当前媒体界的处境前所未有的危险”，并表示，“今天的判决中的两名记者并未犯下国际公认之罪行，他们的定罪应予撤销。”
此决定进一步加剧了对香港半自治中国领土内新闻自由关注的忧虑。之前已有诸多案例表明了新闻自由状况的不乐观。
数日前，《亚洲时事通讯社》的摄影师因拍摄囚禁的政治活动家及媒体大亨而受到审讯，这令人担心记者的行动自由。
《无国界记者组织》则指出，当代表首次试图于四月份入境以监督媒体人黎智英（Lai）继续受审的情况时，他们遇到了进入香港的问题。
2019 年中国官方为了应对大规模争取民主运动而实施的安全法，显著限制了自由言论与集会权后，《立新闻》编辑的审判成为了衡量该城市经济自由度变化的一个指标。
Chung Pui-kuen 55 岁，Patrick Lam 36 岁，他们因在2020年及2021年间发布11篇文章而被起诉，并在文章中批评了国家安全法，同时对北京当局进行无根据的诋毁。这一判决受到了新闻组织与西方政府的批评，美国更是将其称为“直接攻击”媒体自由之举。
然而，香港特区政府反驳称指责此裁决损害言论自由的说法并无依据。
在“一国两制”前，香港作为言论自由之岛享有声誉，并以其活跃的媒体环境区别于大陆。但近年来对集会标语展示的限制显示了反对声音的空间正在缩小。
尽管香港的独立司法体系对于全球企业具有强大的吸引力，然而自2019年高峰以来，“超大规模外审法官”波潮的前所未有的增加引发了对该城市法律秩序未来的担忧。在这座城市设立的最高法院在回归后的 1997 年曾有近半数外国大法官辞职。
《立新闻》对2019年示威活动进行了广泛报道，最终于 2021年末因当局对其办公室进行突袭和冻结资产而被迫关闭。在此之前，《苹果日报》及其母公司“下届数字”同样受到了类似措施的打击，其前编辑及创办人黎智英也被指控发布颠覆国家政权材料。
黎智英将在晚些时候进行一项主要国家安全案件时出庭辩护，并且在上个月的审讯中驳回了他废除可能导致终身监禁指控的权利。他的听证会将于11月20日继续进行。
新闻来源：www.bloomberg.com
原文地址：Hong Kong Editor Jailed 21 Months in First Media Sedition Case
新闻日期：2024-09-26
原文摘要：
A Hong Kong court sentenced a former editor to 21 months in prison for publishing articles about pro-democracy activists, the first jailing of a journalist on sedition charges since the former British colony returned to Chinese rule.The city’s District Court on Thursday announced the sentencing of Chung Pui-kuen and Patrick Lam, top editors at the now-shuttered Stand News, local broadcaster i-Cable reported. They were of taking part in a “conspiracy to publish and reproduce seditious publications” for posting articles the court found to have seditious intentions.Chung’s punishment was close to the offense’s maximum penalty of two years in jail, while Lam received a term that allowed him to be freed immediately, according to the broadcaster. They both spent almost a year in detention before they were granted bail.“There has rarely been a more dangerous time to work in media in the city,” Sarah Brooks, Amnesty International’s China director, said in an emailed statement. “The two journalists sentenced today have committed no internationally recognized crime and their convictions should be quashed.”The decision adds to a string of cases fueling concerns over press freedom in the semi-autonomous Chinese territory. Days earlier the city to an Associated Press photojournalist known for taking photographs of the imprisoned activist and media tycoon, . And Reporters Without Borders said its staff was for the first time ever from entering Hong Kong when a representative arrived to monitor Lai’s continuing trial in April.The trial of the Stand News editors was seen as a barometer for press freedom in the once-freewheeling finance hub after Chinese authorities crushed dissent with a national security law in response to massive protests in 2019 advocating for greater democracy.Chung, 55, and Lam, 36, were convicted last month over 11 articles they published in 2020 and 2021, some written by political activists, that the court said attacked the national security law and “reviled” Beijing authorities with no objective basis. The conviction drew criticism from press associations and Western governments, prompting the US to call it a “direct attack” on media freedom. The Hong Kong government said claims that the verdict damaged press freedom were unfounded.Before Beijing’s national security crackdown, the city was known as a haven for free speech and home to a vibrant media landscape that set it apart from mainland China, where such freedoms are unheard of. A recent string of convictions over the display of protest slogans highlights the shrinking space for dissent.While Hong Kong’s independent legal system remains a major draw for global firms, an unprecedented wave of of top foreign judges has added to worries over the future of the rule of law in the city. Its top court, established in 1997 after the handover, has seen about half of its 15 overseas judges step down from a 2019 peak.Stand News, which extensively covered the 2019 protests, folded at the end of 2021 after authorities raided its office and froze its assets. That followed similar actions taken against Apple Daily and its parent company Next Digital, whose former editors and founder Lai have also been accused of publishing seditious materials.Lai will take the stand to defend himself in a major national security case later this year after a court dismissed his bid to quash charges that could see the 76-year-old locked up for life. His hearing resumes Nov. 20.
