A Hong Kong court has convicted two prominent democracy activists of inciting subversion under the sweeping national security law for organizing annual vigils commemorating China’s 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown, according to Al Jazeera. The High Court on Friday found sixty-nine-year-old former legislator Lee Cheuk-yan and forty-one-year-old lawyer Chow Hang-tung guilty of the serious offense, which carries a maximum penalty of ten years in prison. The defendants, who maintained their innocence throughout the proceedings, have been held in detention since their arrest in September twenty-twenty-one.
The prosecution centered around the activities of the now-disbanded Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China, an organization where both defendants served in leadership roles. Established in May nineteen-eighty-nine, the group campaigned for democratic reforms in mainland China and organized massive annual candlelight vigils in Victoria Park to remember the victims of the military crackdown. For decades, Hong Kong remained the only territory under Chinese sovereignty permitted to host such large-scale commemorations, serving as a rare symbol of the freedoms guaranteed under the handover agreement.
Authorities banned the public gatherings starting in twenty-twenty, initially citing public health restrictions, and the commemorations never resumed. Prosecutors argued that the alliance`s longstanding political slogan and advocacy sought to instigate hostility toward the ruling political system in China. Defense counsel maintained that the activism was entirely peaceful and protected by constitutional guarantees of freedom of expression. A third defendant, veteran activist Albert Ho, had entered a guilty plea prior to the commencement of the trial.
International human rights organizations have strongly condemned the verdict, with Amnesty International demanding the immediate and unconditional release of the convicted individuals. The high-profile case has intensified global scrutiny regarding the steady erosion of political pluralism and civil liberties in the territory since Beijing enacted the security legislation. Legal experts note that the upcoming sentencing will mark another significant milestone in the ongoing transformation of Hong Kong`s legal and political landscape.
