Hong Kong police charge 2 men after Stand News raid

Two of the seven journalists arrested after Hong Kong police raided the office of online media organization Stand News were charged with sedition on Thursday, police said.

Court documents reveal the two men charged were acting chief editor Patrick Lam and former chief editor Chung Pui-kuein. Additionally, the documents reveal the police would prosecute Stand News's parent company, Best Pencil Limited.

Pro-democracy outlet Stand News announced it was shutting operations in a Facebook post on Wednesday evening.

What Hong Kong authorites said

The police said in a statement that it had officially charged "two men, aged 34 and 52 respectively, and an online media company, each with one count of conspiracy to publish seditious publication."

"The two persons were arrested yesterday (December 29) for conspiracy to publish seditious publication, contravening section 9 and 10 of the Crimes Ordinance," it added.

The police did not identify either the reporters or the online media company, in line with its practice of not naming persons in statements it issues. The department said other journalists who had been arrested had been detained for "further enquiries."

Earlier on Thursday, Hong Kong's leader Carrie Lam told reporters that the raid and arrests were law enforcement actions and not aimed at the media industry. 

"These actions have nothing to do with so-called suppression of press freedom," she said.

She hit back at foreign governments calling for the release of journalists, adding that "journalism is not seditious…but seditious activities could not condoned under the guise of news reporting." 

US, Germany, Canada call for release of journalists

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Wednesday night condemned the closure of Stand News and called on Hong Kong authorities "to stop targeting the independent media and release those unjustly detained."

He said that by silencing independent outlets, China and local authorities were undermining Hong Kong's" credibility and viability" and that a confident government "embraces a free press."

A spokesperson for the German foreign ministry said Wednesday that events of the day showed "there is a steady erosion of pluralism, freedom of opinion and freedom of press in Hong Kong — especially since this national security law came into force."

Melanie Joly, Canada's foreign minister, also denounced the arrests of journalists in Hong Kong. One of the journalists arrested was a Canadian citizen who was born in Hong Kong. 

What happened in the raid on Stand News?

Hong Kong police arrested seven journalists who either worked with Stand News or were former employees of the news organization on Wednesday. 

Around 200 national police officers raided the media organization's office around lunchtime, seizing phones, computers and documents.

DW correspondent Phoebe Kong reported that officers of the Hong Kong police's national security department also searched the home of Hong Kong Journalists Association chairman Ronson Chan the same day. 

rm/rt (AP, AFP)