Hong Kong sentences Tiananmen activists to between 5 and 7 years in jail

A Hong Kong court has sentenced three activists involved in a pro-democracy vigil for the 1989 Tiananmen crackdown to between five and seven years in prison. Lee Cheuk-yan, Albert Ho, and Chow Hang-tung were convicted of national security crimes under a law imposed by Beijing. The convictions have faced widespread condemnation from the UN, rights groups, and foreign governments.

Lee and Chow, who pleaded not guilty, received seven years and seven years and three months respectively, while Chow, a former lawmaker who pleaded guilty, received five years and two months. The three were prominent leaders of the now-defunct Hong Kong Alliance, which organized annual vigils in Victoria Park and operated a museum dedicated to the crackdown.

Hong Kong and Macau were the only places in China where public vigils for the Tiananmen victims were allowed, but this has been effectively banned since the implementation of the Beijing-imposed security law. The activists were smiling and waving to supporters when they arrived at court. The statue of the "Pillar of Shame," a symbol of the protests, was dismantled and removed from its plinth at the University of Hong Kong in late 2021, with the statue's fate still pending.