Hong Kong activist behind Tiananmen Square vigil sentenced to 15 months in prison

Activist Chow Hang-tung was arrested last year the day before the June 4 anniversary of China's 1989 crackdown on pro-democracy protesters.

A Hong Kong court sentenced a 36-year-old barrister to 15 months in prison on Tuesday for inciting an unauthorised assembly to commemorate those who died in China’s 1989 crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in and around Beijing’s Tiananmen Square.

Activist Chow Hang-tung, of the since-closed Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements in China, was arrested the day before the June 4 anniversary of the crackdown last year.

Police have banned Hong Kong’s annual Tiananmen vigils for the last two years, citing coronavirus restrictions.

But coming after the mass pro-democracy protests in 2019, many activists saw the bans as an attempt to shut down displays of defiance to Beijing. Authorities denied that was the reason.

Despite the ban, thousands lit candles across the city in 2020, and smaller crowds did the same in 2021.

Chow’s charge relates to social media posts titled “Lighting a candle is not a crime: Stand one’s ground,” and her Ming Pao newspaper article titled “Candlelight carries the weight of conscience and the Hong Kong people persevere in telling the truth.”

Magistrate Amy Chan in the West Kowloon Magistrates’ Court said she found the posts and article were meant “to encourage, persuade, make suggestions to and put pressure on members of the public,” and “amounted to inciting others to knowingly take part in an unauthorised assembly.”

Chan added the assembly caused “a public health risk.”