Hong Kong: Trial against Tiananmen Square vigils opens

Trade unionist Lee Cheuk-yan, lawyer Chow Hang-tung, and former Legislative Council member Albert Ho, who have been in prison for more than four years, appeared in court this morning for the first hearing of one of the trials symbolizing the battle for democracy in Hong Kong. Accused of subversion, they face up to 10 years in prison. The prosecution: “There are no legitimate means to demand an end to the Communist Party's leadership in China.”

​Milan (AsiaNews/Agencies) - After years of postponements, the trial of trade unionist Lee Cheuk-yan, lawyer Chow Hang-tung, and former Legislative Council member Albert Ho began this morning at the West Kowloon Court in Hong Kong. They are on trial for their role in the “Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China,” the movement that from 1989 to 2019 promoted annual vigils in Victoria Park in memory of the victims of the massacre of students in Tiananmen Square in Beijing.

This is one of the most important trials against Hong Kong's pro-democracy movements and - not surprisingly - coincides with the conclusion of the trial of Jimmy Lai, the Catholic entrepreneur and founder of the Apple Daily newspaper, who was convicted in December of “collusion with foreign forces” and “conspiracy to commit sedition” and is now awaiting the announcement of his sentence, which will in all likelihood be life imprisonment.

Lee Cheuk Yan (68, a figure closely linked to the Catholic community in Hong Kong) and Chow Hang-tung (40, who in recent years has become one of the most courageous voices criticizing the repression) have already spent more than 1,500 days in prison prior to this trial. Alberto Ho (74, former president of the Democratic Party) has spent another 1,300 days. Presiding over the trial is Alex Lee, the same judge chosen ad hoc by the Hong Kong authorities for cases related to the national security law who conducted the lengthy trial of Jimmy Lai. At least 75 hearings are also scheduled for this new trial, which is therefore set to last for months.

The prosecution alleges that the three defendants incited others to organize, plan, carry out, or participate in illegal acts aimed at “subverting state power” by calling for an end to the Chinese Communist Party's one-party system. The maximum penalty for subversion is 10 years in prison.

Today's hearing confirmed the two different trial strategies: Albert Ho chose to plead guilty in order to obtain a reduced sentence, while Lee Cheu-yan and Chow Hang-tung contested the charges against them and will therefore face trial starting Monday. Chow Hang-tun has also chosen to defend herself in court without the assistance of another lawyer, and today she already showed her intention to fight, trying to sit in the defense benches rather than among the defendants, for which she was reprimanded by Judge Lee. The rest of the hearing was taken up entirely by the lengthy indictment against Ho, in which the prosecution clearly stated that “there are no legitimate means to demand an end to the leadership of the Communist Party in China.”

The “Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements in China” was founded in May 1989 in solidarity with the student-led protests in Beijing. During those weeks, this organization promoted a large concert in Hong Kong—then still a British colony—for democracy in China, during which funds were raised to support the protesters. And just as Lee Cheu-yan was in Beijing to deliver this money, on June 4, 1989, the People's Liberation Army brutally cracked down, killing hundreds of people and arresting many more, putting an end to the protests. Lee himself ended up in prison and was forced to sign a ‘confession’ before being expelled to Hong Kong.

Since then, for thirty years, the Alliance has held annual vigils in Victoria Park to commemorate the events in Tiananmen Square. Until 2020, after the pro-democracy protests of the previous year, when the Hong Kong authorities used Covid-19 as a pretext to ban the initiative. The entry into force of the national security law in July of that same year made it a crime to organize such gatherings. The group was thus dissolved in 2021, along with dozens of civil society organizations. And now, to coincide with June 4, the Hong Kong authorities organize an annual trade fair in Victoria Park to occupy the space where demonstrations in memory of the Tiananmen Square massacre once took place.

“This trial is not about national security: it is about rewriting history and punishing those who refuse to forget the victims of the Tiananmen crackdown,” said Sarah Brooks, Amnesty International's deputy regional director for Asia, commenting on the start of the trial. “Chow Hang-tung and Lee Cheuk-yan are prisoners of conscience,” she added, “imprisoned simply for exercising their rights to freedom of expression, association, and peaceful assembly. The Hong Kong authorities must release them immediately and unconditionally.”

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