Feisty vigil champion in legal victory

Eunice Lam

A leader of the now-dissolved Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China, Tonyee Chow Hang-tung, was cleared yesterday after being convicted and imprisoned for inciting others to join an unauthorized assembly for the Tiananmen vigil last year.

Chow, 37, a lawyer and a former vice-chairman of the alliance, was sentenced to 15 months in prison by magistrate Amy Chan Wai-mun in January.

Chan backed her ruling by saying there were altogether 10 seditious sentences in a post on Chow's social media platform and an article she had written that was published in Ming Pao.

Chow filed an appeal against both conviction and the prison term, and the hearing began in October before high court judge Judianna Barnes.

In her written Chinese judgment released yesterday, Barnes said she believed the articles were to encourage citizens to gather at Victoria Park.

She cited a line in a Ming Pao article by Chow that was published on June 4, 2021, asking "are we retreating from our battlefield of Victoria Park?"

But Barnes said the legitimacy of the police restraining order targeting the vigil had yet to be confirmed. This meant it remained legal for Chow to call on people to participate in the assembly.

She cited the testimony of a superintendent, Cheung, who signed the restraining order and met with the alliance about the group being willing to comply with social distancing rules and other anti-Covid measures.

"Although the assembly organizer said it was willing to comply with any reasonable requests from the police, officers only criticized without actively considering a series of measures raised by the applicant," Barnes said.

She also said officers did not exercise their duty to grant the approval for the holding of the vigil.

"In my opinion, the [Public Order] Ordinance requires the police to consider whether the assembly can be held under the imposition of measures or conditions and can only restrain the assembly if other measures or conditions cannot achieve the relevant purpose," Barnes said.

The prosecution argued the restraining order was legitimate because it had gone through the Appeal Board on Public Meetings and Processions, which had the right to make a final decision.

But Barnes said the appeal mechanism was not accessible for normal people, including Chow. She then overturned Chow's conviction.

Chow, who was in the dock, was surprised by the judgment, saying: "It's unexpected!"

Despite her victory, Chow remains in custody as she is serving a 12-month prison term handed down last December for inciting others to participate in the June 4 vigil in 2020. She is also facing prosecution on national security charges.