Hong Kong sentences Tiananmen vigil leaders to up to 7 years

Email: online@newsofbahrain.com

Hang Kong: A Hong Kong court convicted three famous pro-democracy activists who coordinated annual vigils remembering the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown to prison terms ranging from five years and two months to seven years and three months. Lee Cheuk-yan, 69, was sentenced to seven years, while lawyer and activist Chow Hang-tung, 41, received seven years and three months. Albert Ho, 74, a former congressman who pleaded guilty, was sentenced to five years and two months.

The three were found guilty of inciting subversion under Hong Kong's Beijing-imposed National Security Law. They were the leaders of the now-defunct Hong Kong Alliance, which coordinated the city's annual candlelight vigils for the victims of the 1989 crackdown. Since the security regulation went into effect in 2020, public Tiananmen commemorations have been essentially prohibited in Hong Kong.

Human rights organisations and international governments have denounced the case, claiming that the convictions show how little room there is in Hong Kong for free speech and peaceful assembly. The national security statute, according to authorities, is essential to maintaining stability.