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Hong Kong court convicts Tiananmen vigil organisers Lee Cheuk-yan and Chow Hang-tung

newsAug 21, 20262475

Lee Cheuk-yan and Chow Hang-tung, former leaders of the now-disbanded Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China, were found guilty of inciting subversion under Hong Kong’s Beijing-imposed national security law. The two activists were charged in 2021 over their roles organising the city’s annual vigils commemorating the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown; prosecutors said the alliance’s core demand of “ending one-party rule” amounted to incitement to overthrow China’s ruling Communist Party. Lee, 69, a veteran labour activist and former lawmaker, and Chow, 41, a University of Cambridge graduate who studied law and served as the alliance’s vice chair, both denied intent to use unlawful means. The verdict has drawn international attention and criticism as another high-profile case under the national security law that curtailed Hong Kong’s pro-democracy movement. Both defendants face up to 10 years in prison, and sentencing will follow the conviction.

AFP News Agency
@en.afp.com

Hong Kong Tiananmen vigil activists Lee Cheuk-yan and Chow Hang-tung found guilty of inciting subversion. Hong Kong and Macau used to be the only places on Chinese soil that permitted public vigils to mourn those who died on June 4, 1989 u.afp.com/SVk6

174h ago
ABC News Australia
@news.abc.net.au

Hong Kong Tiananmen Square vigil organisers convicted in national security case

154h ago
Joel Chan
@kjoules.org

A verdict is expected on Friday in the trial of former Tiananmen vigil organizers Lee Cheuk-yan and Chow Hang-tung @kanisleung.bsky.social apnews.com/article/tian...

12Yesterday
Quoting this
YTSL9

I am already feeling depressed by the expected guilty verdict. To be clear: I don't think/believe that Lee Cheuk-yan and Chow Hang-tung are guilty of "inciting subversion". But I still think the judges will rule that did and thus continue to keep them locked up for too many years.

Jarrod Watt9

30 years of peaceful Tiananmen vigils in Hong Kong ended in 2020: "...the only large-scale, public commemoration in China that attracted tens of thousands annually... prosecutors argued they incited others to use unlawful means to topple China’s fundamental system and central political bodies..."

Hong Kong Free Press HKFP
@hongkongfp.com

Chow Hang-tung's mother outside the West Kowloon Law Courts Building on August 21, 2026, after the verdict in the trial of her daughter and fellow Tiananmen vigil activist Lee Cheuk-yan. In full: buff.ly/nljNaot

144h ago
Timothy Gassin
@timothygassin.bsky.social

Just another regular reminder that former Supreme Court judge Sir William Young continues to bring the NZ judiciary into disrepute through his acceptance of an appointment to the HK Court of Final Appeal.

55h ago
Xun-ling Au 歐迅灵 🏴
@xunlingau.bsky.social

While I don't think anyone expected a different verdict. It is still heart breaking. Free Chow Hang-tung Free Lee Cheuk-yan Free all Political Prisoners #FreeOurFriends

62h ago
johnraff
@johnraff.bsky.social

Did anyone seriously expect any other verdict than "guilty"? Show trial. Hong Kong's Tiananmen Square activists guilty in national security trial www.bbc.com/news/article...

14h ago
@KeepItBlueDems.bsky.social
@keepitbluedems.bsky.social

2 organizers of Hong Kong's Tiananmen vigils convicted in national security case apnews.com/article/hong...

12h ago
Jarrod Watt
@jaywatt.bsky.social

Hong Kong judges convict organisers for decades-long Tiananmen vigils: "the three judges said the prosecution proved that the alliance’s call for “end one-party dictatorship”... [and] the “end” in the phrase carried the meaning of “overthrowing” and “undermining”..." 1/2 apnews.com/article/hong...

4h ago
Asian Lawyers Network (ALN)
@asianlawyersn.bsky.social

As expected, the courts in #HongKong are just like those in #China now. Convicting people who exercise their freedom of expression and freedom of assembly. apnews.com/article/hong...

4h ago
Fallible.
@eds53.bsky.social

Just in case anyone thinks China is not a totalitarian dictatorship apnews.com/article/hong...

24h ago
The Right News, Right Now.
@bradporcellato.bsky.social

Activist group says the 'twisted' Hong Kong judicial system had long ago decided that the pair were guilty. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/8/21/hong-kong-tiananmen-activists-found-guilty-of-national-security-charges?traffic_source=rss

13h ago
News 📰
@some-news.bsky.social

Lee Cheuk-yan and Chow Hang-tung - leaders of the Hong Kong Alliance – were tried under under a 2020 national security law

14h ago
Kefa Hyder
@yhwhrulz.bsky.social

Hong Kong's Tiananmen vigil organisers convicted by court | World News | Sky News news.sky.com/story/hong-k...

4h ago
Saint Stinky
@saint-stinky.bsky.social

Two former organizers of Hong Kong’s annual vigils in remembrance of the 1989 Tienanmen Square crackdown were convicted by government-approved judges Friday of inciting others to overthrowing China’s communist system. apnews.com/article/hong...

4h ago
3 sources
abc.net.auHong Kong Tiananmen vigil organisers convictedaljazeera.comHong Kong Tiananmen activists found guilty of national security chargesapnews.comWhat to know about the former Tiananmen vigil organizers convicted of inciting sedition in Hong Kong

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