The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by Thursday’s conviction by a Hong Kong court of former Stand News editors Patrick Lam and Chung Pui-kuen on charges of conspiracy to publish seditious publications and calls on authorities to stop using anti-state charges against journalists.
“The guilty verdict is another nail in the coffin for Hong Kong’s press freedom,” said Iris Hsu, CPJ’s China representative. “It shows the government’s determination to destroy independent journalism in the city. Hong Kong authorities must stop persecuting the media for their critical reporting.”
The editors of the now defunct independent news site, who are out on bail, are due to be sentenced on September 26 and could be jailed for two years.
China was the world’s worst jailer of journalists, with 44 behind bars, in CPJ’s 2023 prison census, including Jimmy Lai, founder of the shuttered pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily, who is facing life imprisonment if convicted of conspiring to collude with foreign forces.
See also: CPJ calls for support for Hong Kong journalists amid growing pressure, trial delays
The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the killing of Reuters safety adviser Ryan Evans in an August 24 attack that also injured three journalists in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk.
“The missile strike that killed Reuters safety adviser Ryan Evans and injured three other journalists is a sad and sobering reminder that the Russian-Ukraine war remains as dangerous for journalists and media workers covering it today as it was when the conflict started with Russia’s invasion of Crimea 10 years ago,” said Gulnoza Said, CPJ’s Europe and Central Asia program coordinator. “We condemn the attack on Kramatorsk’s Hotel Sapphire, where journalists and other civilians were staying. Journalists are civilians protected under international humanitarian law and need to be able to report on the war.”
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We defend the right of journalists to report the news safely and without fear of reprisal.
Hamza Murtaja
Record Media, Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory
Ismail Al Ghoul
Al Jazeera Arabic, Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory
Abu Taher Md Turab
Daily Jalalabad,Daily Naya Diganta, Bangladesh
Hasan Mehedi
Dhaka Times, Bangladesh
Murad Mirza
Cira TV, Iraq
Muawiya Abdel Razek
Freelance, Sudan