Activist Tonyee Chow loses bid to overturn conviction for refusal to provide authorities with information

Three former organizers of the annual vigil in remembrance of the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown on pro-democracy protests lost their bid to overturn their conviction Thursday over their refusal to provide authorities with information on the group under a national security law.

Tonyee Chow Hang-tung, Tang Ngok-kwan and Tsui Hon-kwong were core members of the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China before it disbanded. They received a sentence of four and a half months last year.

The alliance was long known for organizing candlelight vigils on the anniversary of the Chinese military's crushing of the 1989 protests in Beijing.

Before the group dissolved, police had sought details about its operations and finances in connection with alleged links to pro-democracy groups overseas. Police accused the group of being a foreign agent. But the group refused to cooperate, arguing police were arbitrarily labelling pro-democracy organizations as foreign agents.

Judge Anna Lai at the Court of Appeal dismissed their appeal Thursday, saying she was satisfied that there was ample evidence to support the convictions.

Last December, their lawyer argued in an appeal hearing that the activists were denied a fair trial because they had not been shown the full evidence that suggested the group was a foreign agent.

During previous legal proceedings at the lower court, some crucial details, including the names of groups that were alleged to have links with the alliance, were redacted. The court ordered a partial redaction of some information after prosecutors argued that a full disclosure would jeopardize an ongoing probe into national security cases.

After reading the unredacted materials, Lai said the omission was done properly. "Their non-disclosure would not have caused any unfairness to the appellants," she wrote in her ruling.

She added the prosecution was not required to prove that the alliance was a foreign agent in this case.

Under the security law's implementation rules, the police chief can request a range of information from a foreign agent.

Chow and two other former alliance leaders, Lee Cheuk-yan and Albert Ho, were charged with subversion in a separate case under the sweeping law in 2021. It was still unclear when their trial would begin.

The annual vigil organized by the alliance at Hong Kong's Victoria Park was the only large-scale public commemoration of the June 4 crackdown on Chinese soil for decades. It was attended by thousands each year until authorities banned it in 2020, citing anti-pandemic measures.

(Staff reporter and AP)