Hong Kong jails Tiananmen vigil leaders up to seven years

A Hong Kong court on Friday sentenced three former leaders of the group behind the city's annual Tiananmen Square vigil to prison terms of roughly five to seven years for inciting subversion under a Beijing-imposed national security law. Lee Cheuk-yan, former chairman of the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China, received seven years. Chow Hang-tung, a former vice-chairwoman who represented herself at trial, was sentenced to seven years and three months. Albert Ho, another former vice-chairman who pleaded guilty before the trial began, was given five years and two months, with the court citing his plea as a factor in the reduced term. Three High Court judges also imposed a fine of HK$1.5 million on the now-disbanded alliance, bringing the high-profile trial at West Kowloon Court to a close, according to local court reporting. The fine was not mentioned in other accounts of the sentencing. In August, the three judges convicted the defendants of inciting subversion, citing the organization's long-standing demand to end one-party dictatorship in mainland China.