Three former leaders of the now-disbanded alliance behind Hong Kong’s annual Tiananmen Square vigil have been sentenced to up to seven years and three months in jail under the national security law for inciting subversion by calling for an end to “one-party dictatorship” in mainland China.
Three High Court judges on Friday also ordered the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China to pay a HK$1.5 million (US$191,300) fine in three months, as they brought the high-profile trial at West Kowloon Court to a close.
The alliance, former chairman Lee Cheuk-yan and former vice-chairwoman Chow Hang-tung were convicted last month after the judges found they had incited public hatred towards the Communist Party and advocated the group’s illegal agenda through various public events, including what used to be the only large-scale commemoration on Chinese soil of Beijing’s crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in 1989.
Lee, 69, and Chow, 41, were sentenced to seven years and seven years and three months behind bars, respectively.
Former vice-chairman Albert Ho Chun-yan, 74, was sentenced to five years and two months after pleading guilty ahead of the trial.
Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu said the rule of law could only be upheld by imposing severe penalties on the accused.
“The law never allows anyone to blatantly harm their country and compatriots under the guise of promoting human rights, democracy and freedom,” he said.
Central government authorities in Hong Kong hailed the tough sentences as a manifestation of the city’s rule of law, while warning “external forces” against smearing the court’s decisions.
A spokesman for the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office said the alliance and the defendants “had long incited public hostility, hatred and disaffection towards the state regime”, adding that their offences had seriously challenged the constitutional order of Hong Kong and gravely violated the city’s national security law.
“They must be severely punished in accordance with the law,” the spokesman said.
The foreign ministry’s arm in Hong Kong said the alliance had undermined the central government’s authority “at both ideological and practical levels”.
Beijing’s liaison office said the defendants deserved severe penalties for attacking the party’s leadership, while the country’s Office for Safeguarding National Security in Hong Kong described the ruling as “widely supported” by society.
Ho is expected to complete his sentence in April 2028, assuming he is not granted a one-third reduction by prison authorities on the basis of good conduct during his incarceration.
Lee Cheuk-yan may be released in September or October 2029, whereas Chow may have to serve her sentence until early 2030. The pair intend to lodge an appeal.
Lee’s wife, Elizabeth Tang Yin-ngor, said the sentences did not only punish the alliance and its former leaders, but also those who subscribed to the group’s beliefs or previously attended its annual vigil at Victoria Park in Causeway Bay.
“I think free speech is already a thing of the past,” she said. “They were given such heavy sentences even though they had never resorted to any unlawful means.”
Chow’s mother, Medina Chow Lau Wah-chun, said her daughter had only intended to “speak the truth”.
The elder Chow added that she was not free to speak her mind because of a police investigation against her.
Justices Alex Lee Wan-tang, Johnny Chan Jong-herng and Anna Lai Yuen-kee said the case was serious and warranted five to 10 years’ imprisonment under a two-tier sentencing regime of the national security law.
They noted the offence lasted for 14 months after the law took effect on June 30, 2020, during which the defendants persisted with their offensive conduct on social media and during public events at a time when Hong Kong remained “turbulent and unsettled”.
“Despite the defendants’ belief that their agenda of ‘ending one-party dictatorship’ might be in breach of the [Chinese] constitution and the national security law, they recalcitrantly pursued their course of conduct and strenuously promoted their agenda. This was a premeditated act,” the judges said in a 19-page written ruling.
The European Union said about the sentencing: “This ruling undermines confidence in the rule of law and harms Hong Kong’s reputation.”
Meanwhile, the court adjourned handling the prosecution’s request to confiscate the “Pillar of Shame” sculpture, created by Danish artist Jens Galschiot, pending further arguments.
Galschiot has repeatedly demanded that the eight-metre-tall (26-foot) artwork be returned to him since it was seized by police’s national security department in 2023.
Steve Li Kwai-wah, the department’s chief superintendent, argued the sculpture belonged to the alliance and was used to incite others to undermine the party.
“I think the rationale is very simple. You created something and gave it to someone else. Can you ask to take it back any time you want?” Li said.
Security minister Chris Tang Ping-keung said that any item relevant to the commission of an offence should be confiscated.
In a reply to the South China Morning Post, Galschiot said he intended to request his government to take diplomatic action so that the sculpture could be returned to “its rightful owner”.
Former trade union leader Carol Ng Man-yee, who was released from prison last year after serving 45 months for a subversion offence, and former alliance standing committee member Tang Ngok-kwan were among those who attended the brief hearing on Friday.
Ng said she felt relieved the three defendants finally got to know when they might be released, but said she was still saddened by the outcome.
Tang Ngok-kwan urged the public to continue to honour those who died in the 1989 crackdown in a “reasonable and lawful” manner.
The alliance organised annual candlelight vigils in Hong Kong’s Victoria Park to commemorate the event and called for democratic reforms across the border and the end of one-party rule.
Police prohibited the vigil for the first time in 2020 on public health grounds related to the Covid-19 pandemic. The 2021 event was banned for similar reasons before the alliance disbanded in September that year. -- SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST
