Former Apple Daily writer Wong Kwok-ngon (Wong On-yin) stands trial: first person charged under Article 88 of the Safeguarding National Security Ordinance for 'obstructing' a national security investigation; pleads not guilty to both counts

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Wong Kwok-ngon, 71, a former Apple Daily writer and YouTube current-affairs commentator known by his pen name Wong On-yin, has gone on trial at the District Court. According to NYU's U.S.-Asia Law Institute weekly roundup for October 11–17 (citing Hong Kong Free Press), Wong is charged with sedition and with disclosing details of a national security investigation — the first person prosecuted for such a disclosure. Prosecutors say Wong revealed in two videos that national security police had called him to a meeting in December 2025 on the day he planned to speak at a news conference about the deadly Wang Fuk Court fire; Wong told the court that officers said he should not reveal what was said during the meeting, but never told him he could not mention the meeting itself. [1]

Why it matters

This case is worth recording for three reasons. First, it is the first prosecution under Article 88 of the Safeguarding National Security Ordinance — the offence of 'obstructing investigations into offences endangering national security', added via subsidiary legislation in May 2025 — making Wong's case the first case law on where the boundary lies between being called in by national security police and being allowed to talk about it publicly. Second, the defendant's identity and defence are emblematic: a 71-year-old former Apple Daily writer pleading not guilty on the grounds that he was reporting news as a media worker, turning the case into a direct collision between journalism and national-security secrecy; the Committee to Protect Journalists framed it as a journalist-harassment case in its December statement. Third, the trigger was the Wang Fuk Court fire — Hong Kong's deadliest fire in decades — with commentary on the fire's aftermath already leading to at least five sedition arrests, Wong's being the latest, showing disaster-accountability speech being systematically folded into national-security enforcement. A conservative note: the trial is ongoing, the prosecution and defence dispute what the officers actually said, and this site could not attend the proceedings; whether Wong 'deliberately' obstructed the investigation and whether his remarks constitute sedition await the court's ruling. Hence 'under ongoing verification'. [1][2][3]

Full report

According to the USALI weekly roundup: Wong Kwok-ngon, a former Apple Daily writer who posts on his YouTube channel as Wong On-yin, went on trial at the District Court on charges of sedition and of disclosing details of a national security investigation — the first person prosecuted for such a disclosure. Prosecutors say Wong revealed in two videos that national security police had called him to a meeting in December 2025 on the day he planned to speak at a news conference about the deadly Wang Fuk Court fire. Wong told the court that officers said he should not reveal what was said during the meeting, but never told him he could not mention the meeting itself. [1]

According to trial reporting, Wong pleaded not guilty to both charges. He admitted to publishing the videos and disclosing his meeting with national security police, but argued his actions were lawful because he viewed himself as a media worker reporting on news. According to police testimony from a chief inspector, authorities received intelligence that the defendant and several other individuals planned to hold a press conference regarding the Wang Fuk Estate fire that was intended to 'generate internal social friction and endanger national security', which prompted the December 2, 2025 interview. [2]

Background: on December 2, 2025, Wong was taken in by national security police for questioning and reportedly signed a confidentiality agreement; he later discussed the matter publicly on YouTube. On December 6, national security police arrested the 71-year-old on suspicion of 'prejudicing the investigation of offences endangering national security' and 'doing an act with seditious intention' — the first arrest under the obstruction offence since its creation. On December 9, a magistrate denied bail and remanded him in custody. Police said at the time they needed six weeks to review approximately 2,400 videos (mostly over 30 minutes) and 15 seized devices. Each offence carries a maximum of seven years' imprisonment. The Committee to Protect Journalists issued a statement on December 7, 2025, demanding that Chinese and Hong Kong authorities immediately stop harassing journalists, release Wong Kwok-ngon, and allow the media to freely cover the city's deadliest fire in decades. [2][3]

Verification note: this record draws on the USALI weekly roundup (citing Hong Kong Free Press), trial reporting, and the Committee to Protect Journalists' December 2025 statement. The trial is ongoing, the two sides dispute what the officers said verbally, and this site could not attend the proceedings; findings on 'deliberate obstruction' and 'seditious intention' await the court's ruling, and Chinese and Hong Kong officials have issued no new public statements on the case. This record is therefore graded 'under ongoing verification' and will follow the verdict. [1][2][3]

Primary sources

Links above point to the original publishers of the cited reports or assessments. Their conclusions are attributed in the text and do not imply that this site has independently verified every factual claim.