Hong Kong court jails Tiananmen vigil organisers for up to seven years
Three former Hong Kong Alliance leaders were sentenced under the national security law over annual commemorations of Beijing’s 1989 crackdown.
A Hong Kong court has sentenced three former leaders of the Hong Kong Alliance to between five and seven years in prison over organising annual vigils commemorating Beijing’s 1989 Tiananmen crackdown, the BBC reported.
Lee Cheuk-yan was sentenced to seven years, Chow Hang-tung to seven years and three months, and Albert Ho to five years. The court also fined the now-disbanded Hong Kong Alliance HK$1.5 million.
Lee and Chow were convicted of inciting others to subvert state power under Hong Kong’s national security law. Ho had pleaded guilty in January. Lee’s wife, Elizabeth Tang, said he intended to appeal.
Hong Kong had long been one of the few places under Chinese sovereignty where public gatherings marking the crackdown were held. Authorities banned the vigils in 2020, citing Covid-19 policies, and they did not resume.
The national security law came into force the same year and criminalises a broad range of dissent-related conduct. Authorities say it is necessary to maintain stability, while critics argue it has eroded Hong Kong’s autonomy and created a climate of fear.
Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch condemned the sentences. The Hong Kong Alliance was founded in 1989 to support pro-democracy activists and later campaigned for accountability over the crackdown, the release of dissidents and democratic reform.
