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

A Hong Kong court is scheduled to announce its verdict on Friday in a high-profile national security trial involving two prominent activists who were once at the helm of the city's decades-long commemorations for the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown. The ruling is the latest in a series of cases impacting Hong Kong's once-thriving pro-democracy movement, which has seen a significant decline due to China's imposition of a national security law.

Lee Cheuk-yan and Chow Hang-tung, the leaders of the now-defunct Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China, deny charges of inciting subversion and could face up to 10 years in prison if found guilty. Three judges, all vetted by the government, are set to deliver their decision at 10 a.m. local time.

The vigil, which was once a yearly event drawing tens of thousands to remember the victims of the crackdown, was prohibited in 2020 amidst the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, shortly before Beijing enforced the security law in Hong Kong to suppress the 2019 widespread anti-government protests. Analysts argue that the trial of Lee and Chow exemplifies the diminishing space for freedom of expression in Hong Kong, a British colony that reverted to Chinese sovereignty in 1997.

Eric Lai, a senior fellow at the Georgetown Center for Asian Law, stated that the charge of inciting subversion is frequently employed in mainland China to suppress the activities of human rights advocates, activists, and intellectuals, including the late Nobel laureate Liu Xiaobo. Lai further noted, "We can observe how close the court in Hong Kong is to the party-led judiciary in mainland China through this criminal verdict."