In Hong Kong, three former organizers of the annual commemoration of the bloody crackdown on the 1989 pro-democracy protests in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square have been sentenced to prison. Chow Hang-tung, Tang Ngok-kwan and Tsui Hon-kwong were jailed for four and a half months, a court in China’s special administrative region ruled yesterday. The EU criticized the verdict, which was based on the controversial “security law”.
APKin Cheung
Tang and Tsui were conditionally released pending appeal, while Chow remains in custody awaiting trial in another case. The three Hong Kong alliance members were found guilty under the “security law” last week for refusing to cooperate with the National Security Police. In 2021, the police asked her to hand over several documents, including meeting minutes and financial documents.
“Fighting falsehood with truth”
At their trial, Chow, Tang and Tsui announced that they would continue to “fight truth against falsehood”. “Condemn us for our disobedience if you like, but when the exercise of power is based on lies, disobedience is the only way to be human,” they countered the judge.
For three decades, the Hong Kong Alliance has organized the public commemoration of the crackdown on protests in Tiananmen Square in Beijing. Tiananmen commemoration was banned by authorities in 2020.
A few weeks later, Beijing passed a “security law” to crack down on the pro-democracy movement in Hong Kong. The alliance was forced to disband in 2021 after seven key members were accused of breaking the law. Five of them, including Vice President Chow, were prosecuted.