HONG KONG - A Hong Kong court on Friday convicted two organizers of annual vigils for those killed in the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown of inciting subversion under a Beijing-decreed national security law introduced in 2020 to quash the pro-democracy movement in the former British colony.
The former leaders of the now-defunct Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China, Lee Cheuk-yan, 69, and Chow Hang-tung, 41, had pleaded not guilty to the charge, which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison.
Hong Kong's High Court will hear mitigation arguments on Aug. 28 before deciding the sentences for the two, who have been detained since 2021. The third defendant, Albert Ho, 74, pleaded guilty when the court began trial hearings in January.
The group, which was disbanded in 2021, hosted candlelight vigils every June 4 to commemorate the bloody crackdown in Beijing's Tiananmen Square between 1990 and 2020.
In its ruling, the court said it had determined that Lee, Chow and Ho "had all along been hostile" toward China's ruling Communist Party and the central government under its leadership.
The three "intentionally encouraged supporters of the alliance to wait for the right time to carry out the goal of 'ending one-party dictatorship' with unlawful means," according to the ruling.
The closely watched case revolved around whether one of the alliance's goals of "ending one-party dictatorship" constituted an attempt to overthrow the Communist Party leadership in China or the practice of freedom of speech.
During the trial, prosecutors alleged that Lee and Chow resorted to illegal means to topple mainland China's fundamental system and central political bodies. Their defense lawyers argued the candlelight vigils were organized merely to remember the incident.
The court said it was convinced the group aimed to subvert the ruling authority of the Chinese Communist Party because it continued its advocacy after the security law was implemented.
With the Tiananmen protests becoming an official taboo in mainland China, Hong Kong was once the only place on Chinese soil able to hold such vigils, which were regarded as a litmus test of China's "one country, two systems" governing framework.
Hong Kong authorities have barred the public remembrances of the incident since 2020, initially citing COVID-19 social distancing rules. In recent years, pro-China groups have held large-scale fairs at a park that used to host the vigils.
Human rights organization Amnesty International criticized the ruling, saying it marks "another grim milestone in the government's deliberate campaign" to "silence those who seek truth, justice and accountability," and called for the immediate and unconditional release of Lee and Chow.
