A Hong Kong court has convicted two pro-democracy activists on national security charges related to their organization of candlelit memorial vigils commemorating the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown. Lee Cheuk-yan, 69, and Chow Hang-tung, 41, both former leaders of the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China, were found guilty of incitement to subversion. The pair face potential sentences of up to 10 years in prison, with sentencing to be determined at a later date.
The case has drawn international criticism as a symbol of diminishing freedoms in Hong Kong since Beijing’s national security law took effect in 2020. Human rights advocates contend that the two activists were prosecuted for exercising basic freedoms of expression and assembly. For three decades, the alliance’s annual vigil had been the only large-scale public commemoration of the Tiananmen incident, regularly attracting tens of thousands of participants before it was prohibited in 2020.
The activist community and international human rights organizations have questioned the fairness of the proceedings. Mark Clifford, president of the Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong Foundation, stated that the judicial outcome was predetermined and characterized the legal system as fundamentally compromised. Meanwhile, Chow has continued to publicly document her treatment during pretrial detention, describing restrictive conditions that she said caused significant physical suffering.
Originally reported by Aljazeera →
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