High Court convicts Tiananmen vigil group of inciting subversion

The High Court on Friday convicted two former leaders of a disbanded group that organised annual June 4 vigils of inciting subversion.

Lee Cheuk-yan, 69, and Chow Hang-tung, 41, were charged with "inciting subversion of state power" ​that carries punishment of up to 10 years in jail under the National Security Law (NSL).

They were former chair and former vice-chair, respectively, ⁠of the now-disbanded Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China.

The ​judgment issued by three government-approved national security judges said it was the defendants' repeated ​if peaceful use of the phrase "end one-party dictatorship" rather than other political actions or beliefs that had breached the NSL.

The defendants "intended to cause others to lose confidence in the CCP by stirring ​up hostility and causing division, so as to achieve the objective of undermining the ​fundamental basic system," the judges stated in a 16-page ruling, referring to China's ruling Communist Party.

"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."

Another former chairman of the group and also a former chairman ​of the ⁠city's largest opposition Democratic Party, Albert Ho Chun-yan, 74, had pleaded guilty to the same charge.

Lee and Ho have been detained since 2021. Mitigation hearings are due to start later this month.

(Agencies/Staff reporter)
 

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