Organizers of Hong Kong’s Tiananmen vigils sentenced to up to 7 years and 3 months in national security case
The court also fined the disbanded Hong Kong Alliance HK$1.5 million after judges said the group’s campaign sought to undermine Communist Party rule.
- On Friday, September 11, 2026, a Hong Kong court sentenced three former Tiananmen vigil organizers—Chow Hang-tung, Lee Cheuk-yan, and Albert Ho—to prison for inciting subversion under a Beijing-imposed national security law at the West Kowloon Law Courts Building.
- In August, three government-approved judges convicted the trio, ruling their organization's demand to "end one-party dictatorship" carried the notion of overthrowing the Communist Party leadership through unlawful means, criminalizing speech previously considered protected.
- Before sentencing, Chow wrote that the verdict suggests "pursuing democracy is a crime," stating, "I would rather be a criminal than a person who betrays their conscience." Lee testified his calls for reform stemmed from love for the people, not enmity.
- The disappearance of the annual candlelight vigil at Victoria Park marks the end of public commemorations that distinguished Hong Kong's civil liberties. Urania Chiu, an Oxford Brookes University law lecturer, said the national security law "blurred the boundaries between the two systems."
- Beijing defends the security laws as necessary to restore order, while critics argue the case symbolizes the erosion of the rule of law. Zhou Fengsuo, a former Tiananmen Square protester, told CNN, "Authorities can extinguish the candles in Victoria Park, but they cannot extinguish the memory.
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192 Articles
Tiananmen activists sentenced to between 5 and 7 years in prison
HONG KONG, China — A Hong Kong court handed three Tiananmen vigil activists prison sentences of between five and seven years on Friday for national security offenses, drawing international condemnation. Lee Cheuk-yan, 69; Albert Ho, 74; and Chow Hang-tung, 41, have been behind bars since they were charged in 2021. Their sentences are expected to include the time they have already served. The United Nations, rights groups and foreign governments …
On Friday (September 11), a Hong Kong court delivered its verdict in the case of the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements in China (HKASPDMC) for sedition against state power. Former HKASPDMC vice-chairman Chow Hang-tung was sentenced to seven years and three months in prison, former chairman Lee Cheuk-yan to seven years, and former vice-chairman Albert Ho to five years and two months. The dissolved HKASPDMC was fined …
Three activists, who held vigils in memory of Tiananmen, were sentenced to prison terms ranging from five to more than seven years on Friday in Hong Kong, which was denounced by the UN, the EU, several countries and human rights associations.
HK court sentences trio over Tiananmen vigils
Three Hong Kong rights advocates who organized annual vigils in remembrance of China’s 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown yesterday were sentenced to about five to seven years in prison, with officials in Taiwan calling the punishment “harsh.”Lee Cheuk-yan (李卓人), Chow Hang-tung (鄒幸彤) and Albert Ho (何俊仁
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