Hong Kong court to deliver verdict for 2 prominent former Tiananmen vigil organizers

A Hong Kong court will announce a verdict on Friday in the national security trial of two pro-democracy Tiananmen activists, Lee Cheuk-yan and Chow Hang-tung. The pair faces up to 10 years in jail if found guilty of inciting subversion. The trial, which began in January, has been widely criticized for its perceived erosion of freedom of expression in the city.

The Hong Kong Alliance, the group the activists led, used to organize candlelight vigils to commemorate the 1989 Tiananmen crackdown in Beijing. However, public commemoration has been effectively banned since Beijing implemented a national security law in Hong Kong in 2020 following massive and sometimes violent pro-democracy protests.

Amnesty International argues that the case relies on vague, overly broad, and arbitrary definitions of subversion. Legal scholar Michael Davis stated that the vigils symbolized Hong Kong's tradition of popular protests and that the case will send a message to those who want to exercise their freedom of expression through popular protests.

The Hong Kong Alliance was founded in May 1989, with the goal of building a democratic China and ending one-party rule. Prosecutors claim the activists' remarks were intended to incite others to commit unlawful acts. However, Lee's lawyer argues that the right to criticize state organs is protected by China's constitution. Chow, representing herself, told the court that the law itself is on trial, with the fundamental contradiction between dictatorship and the rule of law eventually needing to be confronted.