Hong Kong Activists Convicted Over Tiananmen Vigils
Lee Cheuk-yan and Chow Hang-tung convicted of inciting subversion under Hong Kong's national security law for their calls to end one-party rule.
- On Friday, a Hong Kong court is expected to deliver a verdict in the subversion trial of former Hong Kong Alliance leaders Lee Cheuk-yan and Chow Hang-tung, who organized an annual vigil commemorating the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown.
- Beijing-Imposed security laws, enacted after 2019 protests, led to the prosecution of the pair; the Hong Kong Alliance, which organized Tiananmen vigils for three decades, disbanded in 2021 as authorities targeted pro-democracy groups.
- Prosecutors argued the activists incited others to topple China's fundamental system through calls for "ending one-party rule," while the defense denied these allegations, maintaining the slogan advocated for democracy rather than illegal overthrow.
- If convicted by three judges, the activists face up to 10 years in prison; their co-defendant Albert Ho, a former vigil organizer, previously entered a guilty plea, typically resulting in reduced sentencing.
- Critics consider this case a litmus test for Hong Kong's civil rights and judicial independence, as Chow, defending herself as a barrister, warned the court risks becoming an accomplice if it fails to gatekeep against overreach.
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MAC calls for release of pro-democracy HK activists
The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday called for the immediate release of two Hong Kong pro-democracy activists after Hong Kong’s Court of First Instance convicted them and the now-defunct Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China of subversion.The MAC expressed
The case enshrines the end of a commemoration that for three decades symbolized the freedoms that differentiated Hong Kong from mainland China
Two pro-democracy activists and watch organizers in memory of Tiananmen were found guilty of "incitement to subversion" on Friday in Hong Kong, following a trial criticized by rights defenders as a new sign of erosion of freedoms in the territory. ...
2 organizers of Hong Kong’s Tiananmen vigils convicted in national security case
HONG KONG (AP) — Two former organizers of Hong Kong’s annual vigils in remembrance of the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown were convicted Friday for what the government-approved judges ruled was inciting others to overthrow China’s communist leadership. Lee Cheuk-yan and Chow Hang-tung, former leaders of the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements…
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