Three Hong Kong activists linked to annual Tiananmen vigils received sentences up to seven years, underscoring Beijing’s growing crackdown on dissent.
Lee Cheuk‑yan, 69, Chow Hang‑tung, 41, and Albert Ho, 74, were convicted last month for inciting others to subvert state power under the city’s national security law. The court handed Lee a seven‑year sentence, Chow a seven‑year and three‑month term and Ho a five‑year term after he pleaded guilty.
The activists had led the now‑disbanded Hong Kong Alliance, a group set up in 1989 to support students who staged pro‑democracy rallies. The Alliance’s annual vigils at Victoria Park drew audiences ranging from a few hundred to more than 100,000 people, according to organisers, though police estimates were lower.
The verdict follows the 2020 ban on public gatherings in Hong Kong, which was justified by Covid‑19 restrictions but quickly became a pretext to silence commemorations of the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown. The national security law, enacted in the same year, criminalises a broader range of dissent than has previously existed under Hong Kong’s common‑law framework.
A court summary noted that Lee and Chow had "incited other persons to organise, plan, commit or participate in acts by unlawful means with a view to subverting the state power". They were accused of spreading a slogan calling for "ending one‑party dictatorship", which the judge interpreted as incitement against the Chinese Communist Party.
After the sentences were handed down, Lee appeared to pray as he was escorted out of the court and Chow blew a kiss to the audience. Their mother, Medina, told the crowd that the verdict should not bring sorrow or guilt to the public.
Activists and community leaders regard the ruling as a "triple tragedy", sparking condemnation from Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, who warn that the sentences target peaceable dissenters and stifle collective memory.
