Hong Kong’s High Court has convicted two former leaders of a disbanded group that organised annual vigils commemorating China’s 1989 crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in Tiananmen Square.
Lee Cheuk-yan, 69, and Chow Hang-tung, 41, were found guilty on Friday of “inciting subversion of state power”, an offence under Hong Kong’s national security law that carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.
Both were former leaders of the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China, which organised the annual vigils for decades.
The commemorations were once legal in Hong Kong and were widely viewed as a symbol of the city’s greater political freedoms compared with mainland China.
A three-judge panel appointed by the government to handle national security cases said the defendants’ repeated use of the slogan “end one-party dictatorship” amounted to a breach of the national security law.
The judges said the defendants intended to undermine confidence in China’s ruling Communist Party by encouraging hostility and division.
“Even though they believed and envisaged that the acts of resistance may not necessarily involve the use of violence or threat of violence, those acts would be in breach of the NSL, and carry a risk of long-term imprisonment,” the judges said in their ruling.
The court said the offence was based on the defendants’ use of the political slogan rather than their broader political beliefs or actions.
National Security Law
Hong Kong’s national security law was introduced in 2020 following months of sometimes violent pro-democracy protests in 2019.
The legislation significantly expanded the powers of the Chinese and Hong Kong governments in dealing with activities deemed to threaten national security.
Another former chairman of the Alliance, Albert Ho, 74, who also previously chaired Hong Kong’s Democratic Party, pleaded guilty to the same charge.
The Alliance disbanded after the introduction of the national security law, ending its decades-long role in organising Tiananmen commemorations.
Lee and Ho have been detained since 2021, while sentencing and mitigation hearings are expected to begin later this month.
