Stand News editor had no intention of harming national security, court hears – South China Morning Post

Stand News editor had no intention of harming national security, court hears  South China Morning Post

A former acting chief editor of the now-defunct Stand News was fulfilling his duty to publish articles and had no intent to undermine national security in Hong Kong, his lawyer has said while appealing his conviction for sedition. A panel of High Court justices pointed out on Tuesday that the presiding trial judge had ruled Patrick Lam Shiu-tung’s decision to run material containing false information from interviewees had the seditious effect of inciting hatred against authorities. They noted the point was among the grounds for the appellant’s earlier conviction. In August 2024, Lam was found guilty of a joint conspiracy charge of publishing and reproducing seditious material along with former editor-in-chief Chung Pui-kuen and Best Pencil (Hong Kong), Stand News’ holding company.

Lam, who was Chung’s successor before the outlet closed in December 2021, later lodged an appeal against his conviction. But David Ma Wai-kwan, Lam’s defence counsel, argued before the Court of Appeal on Tuesday that the trial judge had erred in law by failing to consider whether Lam had “seditious intent” when he published an article reflecting interviewees’ feelings about the 2019 anti-government protests. The article in question was a feature that focused on two alumni of the Chinese University of Hong Kong, who told the author that they were deeply upset by the stand-off between protesters and