RIP Laura Buckley Noonan
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07 Sept 2025
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07 Sept 2025
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Hong Kong police have formally charged two people from an online pro-democracy news outlet with sedition.
The charges come a day after the outlet said it would cease operations following a police raid on its office and seven arrests.
National security police said in a statement they had charged two men, aged 34 and 52, with one count each of conspiracy to publish a seditious publication but did not identify the men.
According to local media reports, the two charged are Chung Pui-kuen and Patrick Lam, who were editors at Stand News, an online pro-democracy news outlet.
The police also said they would prosecute the company for sedition.
The pair were being brought to a court in West Kowloon court on Thursday.
The others arrested are being detained for further questioning.
Apart from Chung and Lam, four other former Stand News board members, including singer Denise Ho and former politician Margaret Ng, were arrested on Wednesday.
Chan Pui-man, a former editor at the pro-democracy Apple Daily newspaper and Chung’s wife, was also arrested.
Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam said at a news conference that the arrests were not targeted at the media.
“Journalism is not sedition, but seditious acts and activities and inciting other people through other acts and activities could not be condoned under the guise of news reporting,” she said.
“It should be very clear what is reporting of news, and what is seditious acts or activities to undermine national security.”
Her comments came after US secretary of state Antony Blinken called on Hong Kong authorities to release the detainees.
“Freedom of expression, including media freedom, and access to information provided by an independent media are critical to prosperous and secure societies. These freedoms enabled Hong Kong to flourish as a global centre for finance, trade, education, and culture,” Mr Blinken said in a statement.
“By silencing independent media, (Chinese) and local authorities undermine Hong Kong’s credibility and viability. A confident government that is unafraid of the truth embraces a free press.”
Stand News said in a statement that it would cease operations and had laid off all of its staff.
The arrests and raid on Stand News come as authorities crack down on dissent in the semi-autonomous Chinese city.
Hong Kong police previously raided the offices of the now-defunct Apple Daily, seizing boxes of materials and computer hard drives to assist in their investigation and freezing millions in assets that later forced the newspaper to cease operations.
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