Hong Kong Activists Sentenced to Prison for Organizing Tiananmen Square Vigils
10 sources across 7 countries
Who reported this
- Le Monde
- France 24
- Hong Kong Free Press
- South China Morning Post
- The Guardian
- BBC News
- The Japan Times
- Aftenposten
- Rappler
- CNN
What the colours mean
- Left
- Centre-left
- Centre
- Centre-right
- Right
- A hatched block means the outlet is affiliated with, or controlled by, a state.
Political lean describes where an outlet sits within the politics of its own country. It is never a position on a single global scale.
Political lean is comparable inside one country and not across them, which is why the bar groups by country first. Publicly funded broadcasters are not marked as state-linked.
The owner of each outlet is listed as a matter of record, not as a judgement about the outlet.
Three former leaders of the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China were sentenced to prison on Friday for inciting subversion under the national security law. Chow Hang-tung received seven years and three months, Lee Cheuk-yan received seven years, and Albert Ho, who pleaded guilty, received five years and two months. The court also imposed a fine of HK$1.5 million on the now-disbanded Alliance. The defendants had organized annual candlelit vigils in Victoria Park to commemorate the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown, an event that resulted in hundreds or thousands of deaths and remains heavily censored in mainland China.
The court ruled that the defendants incited hatred toward the Chinese government by calling for an end to one party dictatorship. While the judges noted that the cases did not involve violence or a specific timetable for ending the dictatorship, they determined the offenses were of a serious nature. The defense argued that the activists were exercising their right to freedom of speech and that the vigils had occurred for over 30 years without issue.
Outlets with a center-left lean framed the sentencing as a tragedy and a violation of human rights, highlighting the erasure of memory and the quashing of dissent. Center and center-right outlets focused more on the legal specifics of the national security law and the court's findings regarding the subversion of state power. The Hong Kong government defended the legal actions, stating that the national security laws were necessary to maintain order and stability following the 2019 protests.
How each side framed it
- Centre-left
- These outlets framed the event as a human rights tragedy and a systematic effort by the state to erase historical memory.
- Centre
- These outlets provided a balanced account of the sentencing and the historical context of the vigils.
- Centre-right
- These outlets emphasized the legal convictions for inciting subversion and the specific fines imposed on the organization.
Sources
- Centre-right Aftenposten: Tiananmen activists sentenced to between five and seven years in prison in Hong Kong
- Centre BBC News: Hong Kong's Tiananmen activists sentenced to up to seven years in prison
- Centre-left CNN: Hong Kong’s Tiananmen vigil organizers handed lengthy prison terms
- Centre France 24: In Hong Kong, up to seven years in prison for three Tiananmen memory activists
- Centre-left Hong Kong Free Press: Hong Kong Tiananmen vigil activists jailed for up to 7 years, 3 months for inciting subversion, group fined HK$1.5 million
- Centre-left Le Monde: Hong Kong: three activists who organized vigils commemorating the Tiananmen repression sentenced to between five and over seven years in prison
- Centre-left Rappler: Hong Kong court jails 2 Tiananmen vigil group leaders for 7 years
- Centre-right South China Morning Post: Tiananmen vigil leaders jailed up to 7 years, as group is fined HK$1.5 million
- Centre-left The Guardian: Tiananmen Square vigil organisers jailed for seven years in Hong Kong
- Centre The Japan Times: Hong Kong hits Tiananmen vigil activists with yearslong jail sentences
100% of the statements in this article were traced back to the source articles listed above.