《蘋果日報》判決凸顯香港媒體危機新時代

Recently the New York Times reported the following:

Apple Daily Sentences Show a New Era of Media Peril in Hong Kong

Two editors and an opinion writer from Jimmy Lai’s now-shuttered newspaper were each sentenced to 10 years in prison, a significant escalation in media prosecution in the once freewheeling city.

By David Pierson - Reporting from Hong Kong

Feb. 9, 2026

Updated 3:46 a.m. ET

The Hong Kong court that sentenced the pro-democracy media mogul, Jimmy Lai to 20 years in prison on Monday also issued heavy sentences to six former employees of his now-shuttered newspaper, setting a new standard for the city’s limits on press freedom.

The newspaper, Apple Daily, was one of Hong Kong’s most independent and widely read news outlets for years until it was forced to shut in 2021 as part of a crackdown on dissent. It was rambunctious, often sensational and proudly pro-democracy. Many Hong Kongers see it as a symbol of the civil liberties that have been lost as Beijing has tightened its grip over the city.

On Monday, the court handed down 10-year prison terms to the paper’s leading editorial voices: Editor-in-Chief Law Wai-kwong, Executive Editor Lam Man-chung, and an editorial writer, Fung Wai-kong.

Others received significant terms as well: Yeung Ching-kee, another editorial writer, was sentenced to seven years and three months; an associate publisher Chan Pui-man, seven years, and Cheung Kim-hung, a publisher, six years and nine months.

The sentences were longer than those given in 2024 to two editors who ran another pro-democracy news site, Stand News, also now defunct. Two of the new outlet’s journalists, Chung Pui-kuen, and his successor, Patrick Lam, were convicted of conspiring to publish seditious materials. Mr. Chung was sentenced to 21 months, and Mr. Lam, who has a serious health condition, to the time he had already served between his arrest and his release on bail — slightly less than a year.

Rights activists and journalist groups have said the prosecution of editors and journalists in Hong Kong illustrated the decline of press freedom in the city and raised questions about what journalistic activities the authorities might consider illegal. The government has hit back at those criticisms, saying that journalists have to abide by Hong Kong’s laws.

But the lines have clearly been redrawn. Several journalists and photographers have been denied work visas or barred from entering the city, including an Associated Press photographer who previously photographed Mr. Lai walking in a barbed wire enclosure.

Many local news outlets have stopped reporting on efforts by Hong Kong activists, now in exile, who draw attention to China’s crackdown on the city. Press freedom advocates say the territory’s national security laws significantly raise the risks for journalists operating in the city. Hong Kong’s vague definition of external interference can be broadly applied to regular journalistic work, the activists say.

“The rule of law has been completely shattered in Hong Kong,” Jodie Ginsberg, the chief executive of the Committee to Protect Journalists, said in a statement after Mr. Lai’s sentencing. “Today’s egregious decision is the final nail in the coffin for freedom of the press in Hong Kong.”

Translation

《蘋果日報》判決凸顯香港媒體危機新時代

黎智英旗下現已停刊的報紙《蘋果日報》的兩名編輯和一名評論員分別被判處10年監禁，這標誌著這座曾經自由開放的城市對媒體的打壓顯著升級

香港法院週一判處民主派媒體大亨黎智英20年監禁，同時對其已停刊報紙的六名前僱員也判處重刑，這為香港新聞自由的限制樹立了新的準則。

《蘋果日報》曾是香港最獨立、發行量最大的新聞媒體之一，直到2021年因香港鎮壓異議人士而被勒令停刊。它既喧鬧，又常以聳人聽聞的手法呈現，並且以身為親民主派為榮。許多香港人將其視為北京加強對香港控制後，公民自由逐漸失去的象徵。

週一，法庭判處該報幾位主要編輯十年監禁：總編輯Law Wai-kwong、執行編輯Lam Man-chung和社論撰稿人Fung Wai-kong。

其他被判處重刑計有：另一社論撰稿人Yeung Ching-kee被判七年零三個月；副出版人Chan Pui-man被判七年；出版人Cheung Kim-hung被判六年零九個月。

這些刑期比2024年判處另一家民主派新聞網站「立場新聞」（現已停刊）兩名編輯的刑期更長。該新聞網站的兩名記者Chung Pui-kuen及其繼任者Patrick Lam被判犯有串謀出版煽動性材料罪。Chung先生被判處21個月監禁，而身患重病的Lam先生則被判處從被捕到保釋期間已服刑的時間 - 即略少於一年。

人權活動人士和記者團體表示，香港對編輯和記者的起訴凸顯了該市新聞自由的衰落，並引發了人們對當局究竟將哪些新聞活動視為非法的質疑。政府反駁了這些批評，並表示記者必須遵守香港的法律。

但界線顯然已被重新劃定。多名記者和攝影師被拒絕工作簽證或被禁止入境香港，其中包括一名美聯社攝影師，他此前曾拍攝過黎智英在鐵絲網圍欄內行走的照片。

許多本地新聞媒體已停止報道目前流亡海外的香港活動人士的活動，這些活動人士一直致力於揭露中國對香港的鎮壓。新聞自由倡議者表示，香港的國安法顯著增加了在港記者面臨的風險。活動人士表示，香港對「外部干涉」的模糊定義可以廣泛適用於常規新聞工作。

保護記者委員會執行長Jodie Ginsberg在黎智英被判刑後發表聲明稱：“香港的法治已被徹底摧毀”; “今天這項令人髮指的判決，無疑是令香港新聞自由死亡最終的一擊。”

 So, a Hong Kong court  sentences Jimmy Lai to 20 years behind bars, and also long imprisonment terms to his six former employees. Apparently, the Hong Kong national security laws have significantly raised the risks for journalists working in the city.