Hong Kong jails prominent Tiananmen Square vigil activist

A Hong Kong court on Tuesday sentenced prominent lawyer and pro-democracy activist Chow Hang-tung to 15 months in prison for inciting unauthorized assembly for an annual vigil to commemorate those who died during China's brutal crackdown on protestors in Tiananmen Square in 1989.

Chow Hang-tung was vice-chairwoman of the Hong Kong Alliance group, an activists' collective that disbanded in September last year owing to pressure from Beijing.  

Chow Hang-tung arrested last year

Chow was arrested last year over two media posts on the day before the June 4 anniversary of the 1989 massacre.

Her charges relate to a social media post with the title "Lighting a candle is not a crime: Stand one's ground," and a newspaper article entitled "Candlelight carries the weight of conscience and the Hong Kong people perservere in telling the truth."

China continues to crack down on activists 

After imposing a draconian national security law in 2020 that curtailed Hong Kong's judicial autonomy, China has steadily cracked down on free speech and the pro-democracy movement in the semi-autonomous territory. 

Hong Kong police banned annual vigils to commemorate victims of the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests over the last two years.

Authorities cited COVID-19 restrictions for disbanding vigils, but critics have said the pandemic was being used as an excuse to block protests. 

Despite a ban, thousands lit candles across the city in 2020, and smaller crowds did the same in 2021. 

What did the court say?

Magistrate Amy Chan in the West Kowloon Magistrates' Court said that Chow Hang-tung's incitement to assembly caused a "public health risk." 

"The law never allows anyone to exercise their freedom by unlawful means," she ruled. 

"She [Chow] was determined to attract and publish attention for the purpose of calling on the public to gather," Chan added.

Chow, who represented herself, pleaded not guilty. She said she wanted to "incite others not to forget June 4," but not to encourage a gathering.

"It can be foreseen that the public space to discuss June 4 will disappear entirely," a tearful Chow told the court after the verdict.  "Tyranny is greedy, red lines will keep expanding."

Members of the group serve jail time

Last month, eight pro-democracy activists, including Jimmy Lai — the founder of the now-defunct pro-democracy paper Apply Daily — were sentenced up to 14 months for their role in organizing and participating in a vigil to mark the 1989 protests. Among them, Chow received a 12-month sentence.

Five months of Tuesday's sentence will run concurrently, meaning Chow should face an additional 10 months in prison as a result of the latest verdict.

Chow also faces charges of inciting subversion under Hong Kong's national security law. The Hong Kong Alliance was one of several organizations that was being investigated by the newly formed national security unit, and the group dissolved amid that investigation.

Police accused members of inciting subversion, and accused the group of acting as an "agent of foreign forces," which the group has denied.

The former British colony of Hong Kong, which returned to Chinese rule in 1997 with the promise that Beijing would uphold its special democratic status, traditionally holds the largest June 4 vigil in the world, with the anniversary barely marked at all on the mainland.

But commemorations have become increasingly difficult. Last month, top international universities across the global financial hub removed Tiananmen monuments.

rm/msh (Reuters, AFP)