Former Hong Kong vigil organizer strives to mark Tiananmen crackdown despite convictions
The pair face up to 10 years in prison after a court ruled their slogan sought to incite hostility toward the Chinese Communist Party.
- On Friday, Hong Kong's High Court convicted former legislator Lee Cheuk-yan, 69, and lawyer Chow Hang-tung, 41, of inciting subversion under the national security law, with both facing up to 10 years in prison.
- Beijing imposed the national security law in 2020 to criminalize subversion, effectively dismantling the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China following the 2019 pro-democracy protests.
- Prosecutors argued the alliance's slogan calling to "end one-party" system in China instigated hostility toward the Chinese Communist Party, a position the court upheld as undermining the political system.
- Amnesty International Hong Kong Overseas spokesperson Fernando Cheung called the ruling a campaign to "punish people for peacefully remembering" the crackdown, while Amnesty International Deputy Regional Director Sarah Brooks labeled the pair "prisoners of conscience."
- For decades, Victoria Park hosted annual candlelight vigils for the 1989 Tiananmen crackdown, drawing tens of thousands until the 2019 event marked the final major gathering before the 2020 security law criminalized such commemorations.
23 Articles
23 Articles
Hong Kong activist quietly marks Tiananmen as vigil organisers are convicted
Hong Kong activist Tang Ngok-kwan continues to quietly mark the 1989 Tiananmen crackdown as two former vigil organisers were convicted under the national security law. The case deepens fears that public remembrance and civil freedoms in Hong Kong are steadily shrinking.
Associated Press News
Former Hong Kong vigil organizer strives to mark Tiananmen crackdown despite convictions
Years after Hong Kong’s annual vigil for the Tiananmen Square crackdown ended, former organizer Tang Ngok-kwan still discreetly visits former memorial sites in the city.
Hong Kong court finds Tiananmen crackdown commemorators guilty of subversion
The Hong Kong Court of First Instance on Friday found Chow Hang-tung, Lee Cheuk-yan and their now-disbanded organization, the Hong Kong Alliance, guilty of a national security offense under the Beijing-imposed National Security Law (NSL). Three NSL-designated judges unanimously ruled that the defendants’ advocacy, through peaceful June 4 annual vigils, for “the end of one-party dictatorship” amounted to an incitement to subversion. They found th…
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