The Oriental Press Group and a former chief editor were convicted of criminal contempt yesterday.
They had waged a campaign against the Judiciary in which they accused 'swinish' judges and 'scumbag' government censors of conspiring against them.
The decision marked Hong Kong's first prosecution for contempt based on 'scandalising the court' and 'interfering with the administration of justice as a continuing process'.
Chief Judge Patrick Chan Siu-oi and Mr Justice Brian Keith concluded the group was guilty of undermining faith in the justice system.
A reader's letter published in the Oriental Daily News was quoted to illustrate the impact that the paper's campaign had on public opinion.
'Someone has torn off the [judges'] designer briefs that conceal their deficiencies and exposed the ringworm, scabies and syphilis that they have hidden under their solemn black gowns,' it said.
On December 11 last year, the newspaper issued a warning to the 'mangy yellow-skinned dogs' on the Obscene Articles Tribunal and the 'swinish white-skinned' judges who had upheld a ruling by the tribunal against it.
