Hong Kong court convicts Tiananmen vigil organizers of inciting subversion

A Hong Kong court on Friday convicted two former leaders of a now-disbanded group that organized annual vigils commemorating the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown, finding them guilty of inciting subversion under a national security law imposed by Beijing. The verdict marks a significant moment in the ongoing dismantling of the city's once-vibrant pro-democracy movement.

Lee Cheukyan, 69, and Chow Hangtung, 41, were found guilty at West Kowloon Court of inciting subversion of state power. The charge, which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison, was brought under the sweeping National Security Law (NSL) enacted in 2020. The pair were former chair and vice-chair, respectively, of the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China, which organized the city's massive annual candlelight vigils in Victoria Park for three decades until the event was banned in 2020.

The judges ruled that the defendants' repeated use of the slogan "end one-party dictatorship" breached the NSL, even if their actions were peaceful. In a written judgment, the court stated that the defendants intended to cause others to lose confidence in the Chinese Communist Party by...