A sedition trial opened in Hong Kong on Monday for two former top editors of a shuttered online media outlet who have been detained without bail for 10 months.
Stand News editor-in-chief Chung Pui-kuen and acting editor-in-chief Patrick Lam were arrested last December during a crackdown on dissent following widespread anti-government protests in 2019.
Stand News was one of the city's last openly critical voices after the closure of the pro-democracy Apple Daily newspaper, whose jailed founder Jimmy Lai faces collusion charges under a sweeping national security law enacted in 2020.
Ahead of the opening statements, the judge heard arguments from both sides about which articles could be included as part of the prosecution's case and whether it was necessary to prove the defendants had seditious intent.