Hong Kong sentences Tiananmen activists to between 5 and 7 years in jail

HONG KONG

Hong Kong activists and supporters holds posters reading, "Release Chow Hang-tung and others," to support pro-democracy activist Lee Cheuk-yan, Chow Hang-tung and Albert Ho, during a demonstration in Taipei, Taiwan, Friday, Sept. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Chiang Ying-ying)

A Hong Kong court handed three Tiananmen vigil activists jail sentences of between five and seven years on Sept. 11 for national security crimes, following a trial that has drawn international condemnation.

Lee Cheuk-yan, 69, Chow Hang-tung, 41, and Albert Ho, 74, have been behind bars since being charged in 2021, and their convictions, under a national security law Beijing imposed on Hong Kong, have been condemned by the United Nations, rights groups, and foreign governments.

A court ruled in August that the activists had breached the Chinese constitution by calling for an "end to one-party dictatorship."

Lee and Chow, who pleaded not guilty, were sentenced to seven years and seven years and three months respectively, AFP journalists in court heard.

Ho, a former lawmaker who pleaded guilty in January, received five years and two months.

Chow, a barrister, represented herself, told a hearing last month that she rejected the convictions, adding that she had "nothing to repent for."

Hong Kong and Macau were formerly the only places on Chinese soil that permitted public vigils to mourn those killed on June 4, 1989, when Beijing sent troops and tanks to crush protests calling for political reform in and around the capital's Tiananmen Square.

But public commemoration has been effectively banned in Hong Kong since the Beijing-imposed security law took effect.

The trio were leaders of the now-defunct Hong Kong Alliance, the group that organised annual vigils in the city's Victoria Park.