Hong Kong journalists sentenced for 'sedition' and promoting 'illegal ideologies'

Two pro-democracy journalists in Hong Kong have been sentenced to prison for "seditious" activities and "illegal ideologies."

Chung Pui-kuen, 55, and Patrick Lam, 36, were found guilty in August of conspiring to publish seditious materials through their Stand News media outlet. 

Chung was the former editor-in-chief of Stand News and received a 21-month prison sentence.

HONG KONG JOURNALISTS CONVICTED OF SEDITION AS CHINA CRACKS DOWN ON FREE PRESS: REPORT

Lam, Chung's successor, was sentenced to 14 months but had his time reduced due to a variety of factors, such as his time served pre-trial and his health conditions.

The two men are the first journalists convicted of such crimes in Hong Kong since the United Kingdom handed over the nation state to Chinese rule in 1997.

Best Pencil, the publication's parent company, was also convicted.

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"The three defendants were not conducting genuine media work, but participating in the so-called resistance," District Court Judge Kwok Wai-kin claimed.

Hong Kong was placed under a national security law in the years following the 2019 protest movement as Beijing began to crack down on pro-democracy voices throughout China. 

The Safeguarding National Security Bill, passed in March, offers punishments for treason and insurrection with life imprisonment and allows for punishment for possession of treasonous publications with time in prison. 

"We didn’t have a hidden agenda, or any other goals that you couldn’t see," Chung said in his trial last year, according to The New York Times. "We saw very important events with a lot of public interest; we only wanted to document them."

In May, 14 pro-democracy activists in Hong Kong were also convicted in a national security case.

Fox News Digital's Jeffrey Clark and The Associated Press contributed to this report.