A Hong Kong court on Thursday is expected to hand down verdicts against two editors of a now-defunct online media outlet for conspiring to publish seditious articles in a case that has drawn international scrutiny.

This is the first sedition trial against any journalist or editor since Hong Kong’s handover from Britain to China in 1997.

It is a case that critics, including the US government, say reflects deteriorating media freedoms under a years-long national security crackdown in the China-ruled city.

Stand News, once Hong Kong’s leading online media outlet with a mix of critical reportage and commentary, was raided by police in December 2021 and had its assets frozen, leading to its closure a few days later.

Its top editors, Chung Pui-kuen, 54, Patrick Lam, 36, and the outlet’s parent company Best Pencil (Hong Kong) Ltd, were all charged with conspiracy to publish seditious publications in connection with 17 news articles and commentaries between July 2020 and December 2021.

All those charged pleaded not guilty. If convicted, they face a maximum two years jail term.

During the 57-day trial, government prosecutor Laura Ng alleged Stand News had acted as a political platform to promote “illegal” ideologies and incited readers’ hatred against the Chinese and Hong Kong governments.

Ng described the articles as seditious, including interviews with jailed or exiled pro-democracy politicians and a news article about jailed human rights lawyer Chow Hang-tung.

Foreign governments including the US, and media freedom advocacy groups said the case showed how authorities had suppressed freedoms and intensified self-censorship since the national security law was passed in 2020.

“Report the truth”

Chung, who chose to testify in court, was in the witness box for 36 days of the trial, defending media freedoms and saying Stand News had only “recorded the facts and reported the truth”, while giving voice to a spectrum of voices including democrats.

“The media should not self-censor but report,” he said.

Chung stressed that they upheld the principle of publishing every article they received to “showcase the greatest extent of freedom of speech”, as long as they didn’t immediately cause violence, affect public health and cause defamation.

Stand News was forced to shut down and take down all its online content after a police raid.

The verdict was originally scheduled to be delivered last October, but it was adjourned three times to wait for the High Court to hand down its ruling on an appeal by a pro-democracy activist Tam Tak-chi against his conviction and sentence on charges which included sedition offences.