Hong Kong court rejects Tiananmen vigil organizer’s bid to quash indictment
HONG KONG (AP) — A Hong Kong court rejected an old application Monday Tiananmen vigil The organizer’s attempt to overturn the indictment by advancing a landmark case seen as part of a years-long crackdown on the city’s pro-democracy movement.
Chow Hang-tung, the group’s former leader who organized a decades-long vigil to commemorate China’s 1989 crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square. charged in 2021 Promoting destruction, which carries a maximum penalty of imprisonment. He was indicted along with two other former leaders of the group, Albert Ho and Lee Cheuk-yan.
Their cases were brought under a national security law that Beijing implemented in 2020 to suppress mass anti-government protests in 2019. The trio were accused of encouraging others to challenge the Communist Party leadership by illegal means.
Chow, a lawyer who is defending himself, said the indictment was too vague to be accepted because authorities did not specify an illegal means. That could mean an “all-encompassing fee,” he said.
Prosecutor Ned Lai argued that the illegal means were contrary to China’s constitution, which stipulates that the party’s leadership is the defining characteristic of socialism with Chinese characteristics and that undermining the socialist system is prohibited.
The three-judge panel approved by the government to oversee the case ruled against Chow. Judge Alex Lee said the panel would issue an opinion in January.
Chow appeared calm when he learned the verdict and smiled into the public gallery before leaving the courtroom.
The Tiananmen vigil, organized by the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of China’s Patriotic Democratic Movements, was the only large-scale demonstration. public commemoration It was a continuation of a decades-long crackdown in China that began in 1989 until authorities banned it in 2020, citing anti-pandemic measures.
The group was subjected to police pressure opened an investigation He included allegations that he was working on behalf of pro-democracy groups abroad. The group denied the allegations refused to cooperate. Chow, Ho, and Lee were later charged with violating the National Security Act.
Members of the alliance in 2021 voted to disband.
Chow and two other core members of the group Sentenced in 2023 not providing information to the authorities and 4 1/2 months in prison each. But in March the trio overturned their convictions It’s a rare court victory for the city’s pro-democracy activists in the city’s highest court.
The hearing of the national security case will be held on January 22.
Since gathering restrictions were lifted during the pandemic period, the park where the vigil was previously held was also opened to visitors. Tiananmen was invaded by a carnival on the anniversary Chinese dishes and products are displayed.
