- Lee Cheuk-yan, 69, and Chow Hang-tung, 41, have been found guilty of inciting subversion under Hong Kong's national security law, facing a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison.
- A third defendant, Albert Ho, 74, pleaded guilty in January, while Lee and Chow were convicted on Friday.
- The court found that Lee and Chow incited others to organize and participate in acts aimed at subverting state power.
- Public commemoration of the Tiananmen Square crackdown has been effectively banned since the national security law was imposed in 2020.
- The Hong Kong Alliance was founded in May 1989 to support pro-democracy rallies, particularly in the wake of the Tiananmen Square crackdown.
- Annual vigils were held in Hong Kong until 2019, when authorities banned these gatherings citing Covid-19 policies.
- The national security law was imposed in 2020, criminalizing a wide range of dissenting acts and effectively banning public commemorations.
Two prominent Hong Kong activists, Lee Cheuk-yan and Chow Hang-tung, have been convicted of inciting subversion under the national security law for their roles in organizing annual vigils to commemorate the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown.127811
The court found that they "incited other persons to organise, plan, commit or participate in acts by unlawful means with a view to subverting the state power".
Both face a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison following their conviction, which has drawn widespread condemnation from human rights organizations.
Amnesty International criticized the case for relying on vague definitions of subversion, stating that Lee and Chow had "not committed any recognisable crime".
Chow, who represented herself during the trial, argued that the law itself was on trial, emphasizing the fundamental contradiction between dictatorship and the rule of law.
The Hong Kong Alliance, the group they led, was described by Chinese authorities as a "toxic tumour" and was responsible for organizing the only large-scale public commemoration of the Tiananmen massacre until 2019.6910
The national security law, imposed by Beijing in 2020, has effectively criminalized public dissent, with authorities citing it to ban vigils and arrest activists.
Elaine Pearson from Human Rights Watch stated that the convictions illustrate how public mourning has become a crime in Hong Kong.
The trial lasted 24 days, with both Lee and Chow in pre-trial custody since their arrests in late 2021.
Zhou Fengsuo, a former Tiananmen leader, remarked that while authorities can extinguish candles, they cannot erase the memory of June 4.
“The convictions mark the latest crackdown on dissent in Hong Kong, where 415 people have been arrested for national security crimes by August, with 185 convicted. Rights groups condemned the verdict, with Amnesty International calling the pair 'prisoners of conscience' who should be released immediately.”
BBC
