HONG KONG (AP) 鈥� Two former organizers of Hong Kong鈥檚 annual vigils in remembrance of the were convicted Friday for what the government-approved judges ruled was inciting others to overthrow China鈥檚 communist leadership.
, former leaders of the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China, were charged in 2021 with under a China-imposed national security law that has effectively crushed the city鈥檚 previously thriving pro-democracy movement. They face a maximum prison term of 10 years. The alliance was also found guilty.
The three judges ruled that the alliance鈥檚 call to 鈥渆nd one-party dictatorship鈥� aimed to end the ruling Communist Party鈥檚 leadership status under the constitution, and that the 鈥渆nd鈥� in the phrase carried the meaning of 鈥渙verthrowing鈥� and 鈥渦ndermining.鈥�
In the verdict, they wrote that the defendants persisted in the call after the law’s introduction, neglecting that it was in breach of the constitution, which states the party’s leadership is a defining feature of socialism with Chinese characteristics. That falls within 鈥渙ther unlawful means鈥� under the security law, the judges said.
The defendants 鈥渋ntentionally encouraged supporters of the alliance to wait for the right time to carry out the goal to 鈥榚nd one-party dictatorship鈥� by unlawful means,鈥� they said.
鈥淭hey did not genuinely believe their words and deeds had not violated the national security law. They just refused to pull back from the brink,鈥� wrote the judges, who insisted they weren’t tried because of political views.
Lee and Chow smiled and waved at the public gallery before they left the courtroom. They are expected to be sentenced at a later date. They will plead for lesser sentences next week, one of the judges said.
Trial a barometer for Hong Kong鈥檚 civil rights, observers say
The verdict is among the latest involving Hong Kong鈥檚 once-vibrant pro-democracy movement, which has largely been dismantled after the security law’s introduction in 2020.
For decades, Hong Kong鈥檚 annual candlelight vigil was the only large-scale public commemoration of the Tiananmen crackdown in China, drawing tens of thousands of people annually. The crackdown remains a political taboo on the mainland, where authorities tightly censor discussion and prohibit public commemorations.
Hong Kong鈥檚 greater political freedoms, granted under Beijing鈥檚 鈥渙ne country, two systems鈥� governing framework, allowed the vigil to occur until authorities banned it during the coronavirus pandemic.
Observers said that their trial symbolized the erosion of freedom of expression in the former British colony, which returned to Chinese rule in 1997.
Eric Lai, a senior fellow with the Georgetown Center for Asian Law, said that every actor in Hong Kong civil society who assumed that renouncing violence and working within the law would be fine has to revise that assumption.
鈥淢oderation of method offers no protection if the objective itself is held to be unconstitutional,鈥� he said.
During the trial, Lee told the court that their call wasn’t about ending the party鈥檚 leadership, but about moving toward democracy, letting the people decide who leads them, and that the Communist Party shouldn’t enforce 鈥渄ictatorship.鈥�
In a Patreon post on Thursday, Chow recalled being shackled in handcuffs, and in waist and ankle chains, for trips to court from prison, saying she was walked by correctional service officers 鈥渓ike a dog.鈥�
鈥淛ustice lives in the hearts of the people,鈥� she said. 鈥淥ne verdict doesn鈥檛 matter much.鈥�
When the trial began in January, codefendant pleaded guilty, which typically could result in a reduced sentence. He will also plead for a lesser sentence next week.
Supporters cast doubt on allegations
After the conviction, Lee鈥檚 wife, Elizabeth Tang, told reporters that she was disappointed and angry about the result.
鈥淚 feel it’s unfair. I feel the judges did not consider our lawyers’ opinions and materials,鈥� she said, and that they would decide whether to appeal later.
Chow’s mother, Medina Chow Lau Wah-chun, said that she hoped the 鈥渆nvironment can be a little healthier鈥� and 鈥渇lowers and plants of all colors can bloom.鈥�
Dozens of people lined up outside the court under drizzle before the hearing.
Tang Ngok-kwan, a former alliance member, said that police wouldn’t let him join the line, if he insisted on bringing along 鈥渟ensitive鈥� materials, including bookmarks printed with 鈥渧indicate June 4.鈥� The date is the anniversary of the Tiananmen Square crackdown. He decided not to go into the court.
Former vigil goer Margaret Chan, who joined the line at 6 a.m., said that the alliance鈥檚 name carried the word 鈥減atriotic.鈥�
鈥淓veryone is patriotic. How to incite? Incite others to be patriotic?鈥� she said.
Hong Kong authorities defend the verdict
Hong Kong leader John Lee said that the alliance has long deliberately planted seeds of hatred against the party and the central government in society, and their acts endangered national security.
Steve Li, chief superintendent of the police’s national security department, said the case would help with future law enforcement.
鈥淚t also lets the public know that it is not that one cannot criticize,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t is simply that there must be no incitement, and no subversion of state power.鈥�
But others disagreed
U.N. Secretary-General Ant贸nio Guterres 鈥渉as always believed that people should be allowed to speak and protest and demonstrate peacefully without fear of arrest or prosecution,鈥� his spokesman, St茅phane Dujarric, told U.N. reporters when asked for Guterres’ reaction to the convictions.
Riley Barnes, the U.S. assistant secretary of state for democracy, human rights and labor, said on X that the U.S. condemns the guilty verdict, saying the peaceful vigils sought only to remember the past and honor the lives lost in that assault.
Rosie Winterton, the minister for the Indo-Pacific region at the U.K. Foreign Office, said that the verdict is a further demonstration that even peaceful acts of remembrance in Hong Kong are now treated by the authorities as threats to national security. The European Union said the convictions confirmed the ongoing deterioration of the city’s freedom of expression.
Hundreds of people, possibly thousands, were killed in the 1989 crackdown as military tanks rolled into the center of Beijing. The Tiananmen Square crackdown was a pivotal moment in China鈥檚 modern history, showing that the market reform that transformed the country into the world鈥檚 second-largest economy wouldn’t be coupled with political liberalization.
After COVID-19 restrictions were lifted, the former vigil site in Hong Kong was occupied instead by a carnival organized by pro-Beijing groups.
Beijing said the security law was necessary for the city鈥檚 stability. Many leading activists have been jailed under the same law, including pro-democracy former media tycoon . Under the drastic political changes, the alliance was among dozens of civil society groups dissolved.
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