Overview
- The West Kowloon/High Court sentenced the three defendants on Friday, giving Lee Cheuk-yan seven years, Chow Hang-tung seven years and three months, and Albert Ho five years and two months.
- The court also fined the now-disbanded Hong Kong Alliance HK$1.5 million and prosecutors have sought to confiscate the group’s archives and memorial items including the Pillar of Shame.
- Judges convicted the organizers of inciting subversion after finding the Alliance’s slogan to “end one‑party dictatorship” implied an intent to overthrow or undermine the Chinese Communist Party.
- The defendants said they will appeal and the rulings drew strong condemnation from the United Nations, human rights groups and several foreign governments while Hong Kong and Beijing defended the prosecutions as lawful security measures.
- For three decades the Alliance ran Hong Kong’s large June 4 vigils in Victoria Park, a practice banned in 2020, and rights groups say the case marks a further erosion of the city’s civic space and public memory of Tiananmen.