Tiananmen Square vigil organisers found guilty in Hong Kong of ‘inciting subversion’
Lee Cheuk-yan and Chow Hang-tung - leaders of the Hong Kong Alliance – were tried under under a 2020 national security law Two Hong Kong activists who organised annual vigils marking China’s deadly Tiananmen crackdown in 1989 were found guilty of “incitement to subversion”, in a case widely criticised as exemplifying the erosion of freedom of expression in the Chinese city. Lee Cheuk-yan, 69, and…
Two Hong Kong activists, Lee Cheuk-yan and Chow Hang-tung, have been found guilty of "incitement to subversion" for organising annual vigils marking China's 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown, according to a press summary given to reporters. The two leaders of the Hong Kong Alliance were convicted under a 2020 national security law, facing a maximum penalty of 10 years in jail.
The trial, which lasted 24 days, began in January and sentencing is expected at a later date. Chow, representing herself, argued that the law itself was under scrutiny. The Hong Kong Alliance, which organised the vigils in Victoria Park, formerly the only place in mainland China where public commemorations of the 1989 events were permitted, has been effectively banned since Beijing introduced the national security law in 2020.
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