Hong Kong's Tiananmen activists guilty in national security trial
Three activists were accused of inciting others to subvert state power under the China-introduced law.
Two Hong Kong activists, Lee Cheuk-yan, 69, and Chow Hang-tung, 41, have been found guilty of inciting others to subvert state power under the city's controversial national security law. The pair face a maximum penalty of 10 years in jail, though sentencing is yet to be determined. Albert Ho, a former 74-year-old lawmaker, pleaded guilty in January.
Prosecutors claimed the activists endangered national security in the name of human rights. In May, Chow represented herself, asserting that the law itself was under trial. Hong Kong, once a bastion of peaceful remembrance for the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown, banned such gatherings in 2020 due to Covid-19 restrictions, which have never been reinstated.
This also coincided with the national security law's official implementation, allowing for a broader definition of dissenting acts. Lee and Chow were leaders of the defunct Hong Kong Alliance, which supported students in pro-democracy rallies and called for accountability for the Beijing massacre. The group has been in custody since 2021.
Amnesty International has criticized the case, stating it relies on vague, overly broad, and arbitrary definitions of subversion.
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