A Hong Kong court will sentence three Tiananmen vigil organisers in a national security case on Friday. The ruling is being watched as a test of how far dissent and democratic advocacy can survive in the city.
A Hong Kong court is set to sentence on Friday three activists who for years organised annual vigils to remember China’s 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown, in a case widely seen as a barometer of the city’s freedoms as Beijing tightens its grip on dissent. Lee Cheuk-yan, Chow Hang-tung and Albert Ho were convicted earlier this year of inciting subversion under a Beijing-imposed national security law and face up to 10 years in prison.
The sentencing will be the latest high-profile punishment under the security law, which Beijing says is needed to maintain stability. Hong Kong once had a vibrant civil society, marked by massive protests and a freewheeling press, but after the 2019 protest movement, authorities curtailed electoral choice, prosecuted leaders of media outlets known for critical reporting on the government, and saw dozens of civil society groups dissolve, including the alliance led by the three defendants.
Lee, Chow and Ho were leaders of the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China, which for three decades organised a Tiananmen vigil that was the only large-scale public commemoration of the event in China. Hundreds and possibly thousands of people were killed when military tanks rolled into central Beijing and troops opened fire to end the student-led pro-democracy protests in 1989. The annual vigil drew tens of thousands to Hong Kong’s Victoria Park for decades, before authorities banned it in 2020 during the coronavirus pandemic. The gatherings had come to symbolise the civil liberties that set Hong Kong apart from mainland China.
In August, three government-approved judges found the trio guilty of inciting subversion, citing the alliance’s demand to “end one-party dictatorship”. The judges said the slogan encouraged supporters to end the ruling Chinese Communist Party’s leadership through unlawful means and carried the idea of overthrowing or undermining it. Lee and Chow pleaded not guilty, while Ho pleaded guilty, a move that can reduce the penalty. The three were charged in September 2021 and have been held in custody for years.
During the trial, the defence said the activists did not mean to end the party’s leadership and argued that the alliance had not asked people to use any illegal means. Lee said their call for “ending one-party dictatorship” and moving towards democracy meant letting people decide who leads them. Chow, who represented herself, said the verdict suggested pursuing democracy is a crime and that she did not deserve even one day in prison.
The verdict has drawn criticism from some quarters. Urania Chiu, a law lecturer at Oxford Brookes University in the UK, said the guilty verdicts showed that even peaceful calls for democratic change in the Chinese regime are now criminalised in Hong Kong. Responding to criticism of the case from foreign governments, the Hong Kong office of China’s foreign ministry said Hong Kong is governed by the rule of law and that no one should be allowed to engage in unlawful activities under the pretext of “freedom of speech and press”. Former pro-democracy media tycoon Jimmy Lai was sentenced to 20 years in prison in February. Friday’s sentencing of the three vigil organisers is set to add to the list of major national security law cases that have reshaped Hong Kong’s public life.
With PTI Inputs
