Prozesse: Aktivisten von Tiananmen-Mahnwachen in Hongkong verurteilt
Lange erinnerten Menschen in Hongkong an die blutige Niederschlagung von Protesten in Peking 1989. Zwei frühere Organisatoren wurden nun verurteilt. Ihnen drohen lange Haftstrafen.
A Hong Kong court found two pro-democracy activists, Lee Cheuk-yan and Chow Hang-tung, guilty of conspiring to overthrow the government between July 2020 and September 2021. The verdict stems from their role in organizing the annual candle vigil for the Tiananmen Square massacre victims in Beijing in 1989. The activists and their organization, the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China, were accused of attempting to topple the state's power.
Both denied the charges. A third defendant, Albert Ho, admitted guilt. The court ruled that the activists had called for the end of the one-party dictatorship, thereby questioning the legitimacy of the Communist Party of China's rule. The candle vigil was the only public remembrance on Chinese soil for the victims of the June 4, 1989 Tiananmen Square protests.
These assemblies also expressed the political freedoms Hong Kong was promised by Britain when it returned the colony to China. Since the introduction of the national security law in 2020, following intense protests in Hong Kong, the vigil has not taken place. The activists' conviction demonstrates how public expressions of mourning in Hong Kong have become a crime, according to a spokesperson for Human Rights Watch.
Governments worldwide should advocate for those Hong Kong residents facing punishment for attempting to hold the state accountable for erasing Hong Kong's freedoms, she added.
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