The EU and Amnesty International have both expressed concern about the convictions of two editors of a now-defunct online news outlet in Hong Kong.

The District Court in the territory found Chung Pui-kuen and Lam Shiu-tung, two former chief editors of Stand News, guilty of conspiring to publish and reproduce ‘seditious’ material.

Sentencing is due to take place on 26 September.

‘Dwindling space’

“This latest conviction is yet another sign of the dwindling space for press freedom, a fundamental right enshrined in the Hong Kong Basic Law,” a spokesperson for the EU’s diplomatic service said.

“The ruling risks further inhibiting the pluralistic exchange of ideas and the free flow of information, both cornerstones of the economic success of Hong Kong,” the statement added.

The EU has called on the Hong Kong authorities to restore confidence in press freedom in Hong Kong and to stop prosecuting journalists.

Amnesty International’s China director Sarah Brooks described the verdict as “dismaying”, and “one more nail in the coffin for press freedom in Hong Kong”.

She added that Stand News and its two editors had been targeted simply for doing their legitimate journalistic work.