What’s at stake as 2 Hong Kong journalists await a verdict in their sedition trial?

Associated Press

HONG KONG (AP) — Two journalists who led a now-closed Hong Kong online news outlet will hear a verdict in their sedition case on Thursday. The trial is seen as an indicator for press freedom in the semi-autonomous Chinese city. The trial of Stand News’ former editor-in-chief Chung Pui-kuen and former acting editor-in-chief Patrick Lam is Hong Kong’s first sedition case involving media since the former British colony returned to Chinese rule in 1997. The journalists were charged with conspiracy to publish seditious materials under a colonial-era law that has been used increasingly to target dissent under a government crackdown following huge anti-government protests in 2019.