Court convicts 2 organizers of Hong Kong’s Tiananmen vigils in national security case

HONG KONG (AP) 鈥� Two former organizers of Hong Kong鈥檚 decades-old vigil in remembrance of the 1989 Tiananmen Square were convicted Friday brought under a China-imposed law that has effectively crushed the city鈥檚 previously thriving pro-democracy movement.

Lee Cheuk-yan and Chow Hang-tung, former leaders of the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China, were with inciting subversion under the national security law. They both had and face a maximum prison term of 10 years. The alliance was also found guilty.

The verdict is among the latest involving Hong Kong鈥檚 once-vibrant pro-democracy movement, which has largely been dismantled by Hong Kong and Chinese authorities.

For three decades, the candlelight vigil organized by the alliance was the only large-scale that drew tens of thousands of people annually to mourn the victims in China. The event was banned in 2020 during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, weeks before Beijing imposed the security law on Hong Kong to quell the 2019 massive anti-government protests.

Observers say their trial symbolizes the erosion of freedom of expression in the former British colony, which returned to Chinese rule in 1997.

Lee and Chow are expected to be sentenced at a later date.

The judges have not read out the reasons behind the conviction, saying the full judgment would be available online later.

Eric Lai, a senior fellow with the Georgetown Center for Asian Law, said the charge of inciting subversion was commonly used in mainland China to criminalize the acts of human rights lawyers, activists and intellectuals, including .

鈥淲e can see to what extent the court in Hong Kong falls into the level of the party-led judiciary in the mainland through the criminal verdict,鈥� he said.

They were accused of inciting the overthrow of China’s ruling party

During , prosecutors said the case was not political and focused on what they viewed as a call by the alliance to incite others to overthrow the leadership of China鈥檚 ruling Communist Party through unlawful means, pointing to 鈥渆nding one-party rule,鈥� one of the group鈥檚 core demands.

But Lee told the court that the call was not about ending the party鈥檚 leadership but about moving toward democracy, letting the people decide who leads them, and that the Communist Party should not enforce 鈥渄ictatorship.鈥�

Chow, a barrister who defended herself, 鈥渆nding one-party rule鈥� means ending a state where power is unrestricted. She criticized how the standard for determining right and wrong was turned upside down in this case.

In her Patreon post Thursday, she recalled being shackled in handcuffs, and in waist and ankle chains, for trips to court from prison, saying she was walked by correctional service officers 鈥渓ike a dog.”

鈥淛ustice lives in the hearts of the people. There is no need to look up to this kind of top-down ruling, and one verdict doesn鈥檛 matter much,鈥� she said.

The trial, initially scheduled for 75 days, moved faster than expected and concluded its closing statements on the 24th day. When it began in January, , another defendant in the case, entered a guilty plea, a move that typically could result in a reduced sentence.

Lee and Chow are expected to plead for lesser penalties at a separate hearing and could be sentenced alongside Ho.

Supporters cast doubt on allegations

Dozens of people lined up outside the court under drizzling rain ahead of the hearing.

Tang Ngok-kwan, a former alliance member, said police wouldn’t let him join the line if he insisted on bringing along 鈥渟ensitive鈥� materials, including bookmarks printed with 鈥渧indicate June 4.鈥� The date is the crackdown鈥檚 anniversary. He decided not to go into the court.

Tang said a guilty verdict for the alliance would 鈥渦pend his understanding鈥� of the city鈥檚 laws.

Former vigil goer Margaret Chan, who joined the queue at 6 a.m., said the alliance鈥檚 name carried the word 鈥減atriotic.鈥�

鈥淓veryone is patriotic. How to incite? Incite others to be patriotic?鈥� she said.

Hundreds of people, and possibly thousands, were killed in the 1989 crackdown as military tanks rolled into the center of Beijing. The crackdown was a pivotal moment in China鈥檚 modern history, determining that the market reform that transformed the country into the world鈥檚 second-largest economy would not be coupled with political liberalization.

After COVID-19 restrictions were lifted, the former vigil site in Hong Kong was occupied instead by a carnival organized by pro-Beijing groups.

Beijing said the 2020 security law was necessary for the city鈥檚 stability. Many leading activists were jailed under the same law, including pro-democracy former media tycoon . Under the drastic political changes, dozens of civil society groups also dissolved, including the alliance.