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A court in Hong Kong has sentenced three prominent pro-democracy activists to prison terms ranging from five to seven years over their involvement in organizing peaceful annual commemorations for the victims of the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre. The ruling represents another major application of the national security legislation imposed on the territory by Beijing.
Under the ruling delivered on Friday, former labor leader Lee Cheuk-yan, aged 69, and barrister Chow Hang-tung, aged 41, each received seven-year prison sentences after being convicted of inciting subversion. Both defendants had contested the allegations and entered not guilty pleas during earlier proceedings.
A third defendant, 74-year-old Albert Ho, was handed a custodial sentence of five years and two months. Ho had previously tendered a formal guilty plea to the subversion charge in January, leading to a reduced sentence compared to his co-accused.
The legal action also targeted the organization behind the annual vigils, the now-disbanded Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China. In addition to the sentences imposed on its former leadership, the court penalized the defunct civic group with a fine of 1.5 million Hong Kong dollars, which equals approximately 191,000 US dollars.
In their legal reasoning, the presiding judges highlighted that the defendants had actively infringed upon the Chinese constitution. The court emphasized that the group’s public advocacy calling for an "end to one-party dictatorship" constituted an unlawful challenge to the constitutional order governing the Chinese state.
The judicial panel acknowledged in its written judgment that the case did not involve any acts of violence, nor had the organizers established a concrete operational timetable to fulfill their political aims. Nonetheless, the bench determined that the nature of the subversion offence remained serious enough to warrant substantial custodial sentences.
Both Lee and Chow have already spent an extensive period behind bars, remaining in custody since entering their not guilty pleas in 2021. The court noted that the overall sentences handed down to the activists are anticipated to incorporate the time they have already served during pre-trial and trial detention.
Lee, who served as a former chairperson of the Hong Kong Alliance, intends to challenge the legal outcome. Following the sentencing hearing, his wife, Elizabeth Tang, confirmed in comments to reporters that he would definitely pursue an appeal against his conviction and seven-year sentence.
Chow, who previously served as the vice-chair of the alliance and chose to represent herself throughout the legal proceedings, remained unrepentant about her advocacy. During a courtroom hearing held last month, the barrister told the court that she had nothing to repent for regarding her role in organizing the commemorations.
Albert Ho, who also previously led the alliance as a former chairperson, is widely recognized as a veteran figure within the city’s political opposition, having served for years as a leading member of the Democratic Party before the recent crackdown.
For three decades, the annual candlelight gathering in Hong Kong stood as the sole major public commemoration of the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown permitted on Chinese territory. The events remembered the pro-democracy demonstrators killed during Beijing's military crackdown in June 1989.
These large-scale public assemblies were historically legal and tolerated by local authorities, serving as a prominent symbol of Hong Kong's distinctive freedoms and civic autonomy relative to the much tighter political restrictions enforced across mainland China.
The legal environment surrounding the commemorations changed dramatically following Beijing’s enactment of the National Security Law in 2020. The sweeping statute was introduced after months of massive pro-democracy protests that shook the financial hub in 2019, which marked the final year the candlelight vigil was permitted to take place.
Since the enactment of the 2020 security legislation, civil liberties throughout the city have experienced severe suppression, bringing an end to long-standing traditions of public assembly and political opposition.
The sentencing drew immediate international condemnation from the United Nations, global human rights watchdogs, and foreign governments, all of which criticized the use of draconian security laws to criminalize political remembrance. In Taiwan, the Mainland Affairs Council condemned the verdicts, stating that the pursuit of democracy and human rights does not constitute a crime and accusing authorities of orchestrating political trials under the guise of national security to shield an authoritarian regime.
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