Hong Kong Court Convicts Tiananmen Vigil Organizers of Inciting Subversion

A Hong Kong court has found Lee Cheuk-yan and Chow Hang-tung guilty of inciting subversion for their roles in organizing annual vigils to commemorate the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown. The two former leaders of the now-defunct Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China face a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison. A third defendant, former lawmaker Albert Ho, previously pleaded guilty to the same charge. Lee and Chow have been on remand since 2021, while Ho has been detained since May 2021 with a brief period of bail.

The court found that the defendants breached the China-imposed National Security Law by using the phrase "end one-party dictatorship" to stir up hostility and undermine the fundamental basic system. Judges rejected defense arguments that the activists believed they were acting within the law. In response, Hong Kong government officials, including leader John Lee and Secretary for Security Chris Tang, stated that the Alliance deliberately planted seeds of hatred against the Chinese Communist Party and endangered national security.

Perspectives on the verdict vary by political lean. Center-left sources frame the convictions as a sign of declining freedoms and the extinguishing of a pro-democracy struggle, highlighting the personal toll on the defendants. A center-right source frames the legal action as an attempt by China to banish the memory of the 1989 massacre and characterizes the proceedings as a trial for "thought crime."