High Court convicts vigil group leaders of subversion incitement
Thestandard · 1 SOURCESabout 2 hours ago1 MIN
Summary
Hong Kong’s High Court on Friday convicted Lee Cheuk-yan, 69, and Chow Hang-tung, 41, of inciting subversion of state power under the National Security Law. The pair were former leaders of the now-disbanded Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China, which had organised annual June 4 vigils
Key Points
- The charge of inciting subversion of state power carries a maximum penalty of 10 years’ imprisonment under the National Security Law
- Lee was the group’s former chair and Chow its former vice-chair, while former chairman Albert Ho Chun-yan, 74, had already pleaded guilty
- The ruling was issued in a 16-page judgment by three government-approved national security judges at the High Court
- Judges said the breach arose from the defendants’ repeated, though peaceful, use of the phrase “end one-party dictatorship”
- Lee and Ho have been detained since 2021, and mitigation hearings are due to begin later this month
Why It Matters
The ruling sets out the court’s view that even non-violent political advocacy can amount to an offence under the National Security Law when judges find it aimed at undermining China’s basic system. Sentencing will be the next closely watched stage, with the offence carrying up to 10 years in prison