Hong Kong court rejects Tiananmen vigil organizer's bid to quash indictment

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HONG KONG (AP) — A Hong Kong court on Monday rejected a former Tiananmen vigil organizer's attempt to quash her indictment, pressing ahead with a landmark case widely seen as part of a yearslong crackdown on the city's pro-democracy movement.

Chow Hang-tung, a former leader of the group that organized a decades-old vigil to remember China's 1989 crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in Beijing's Tiananmen Square, was charged in 2021 with inciting subversion, which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years. She was charged together with two of the group's other former leaders, Albert Ho and Lee Cheuk-yan.

Their case was brought under a national security law imposed by Beijing in 2020 to quell massive anti-government protests in 2019. The trio were accused of inciting others to challenge the leadership of the Communist Party by unlawful means.

Chow, who is a barrister and is defending herself, argued that the indictment was unacceptably broad and vague because authorities did not specify an unlawful means. She said it could amount to a “catch-all charge.”

Judge Alex Lee remarked during the hearing that the charge was broad, but not vague.

Prosecutor Ned Lai argued that unlawful means meant those against the Chinese constitution, which stipulates that the party's leadership is the defining feature of socialism with Chinese characteristics and that damaging the socialist system is prohibited.

The three-judge panel, approved by the government to oversee the case, ruled against Chow. Lee said the panel would issue an opinion in January.

Chow appeared calm when she learned about the decision and smiled to the public gallery before leaving the courtroom.

The Tiananmen vigil, organized by the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China, was the only large-scale public commemoration of the 1989 crackdown in China for decades until authorities banned it in 2020, citing anti-pandemic measures.

The group came under increasing pressure as police opened an investigation, accusing it of being a foreign agent. The group rejected the allegations and refused to cooperate. Chow, Ho and Lee were later charged for violations of the National Security Law.

In 2021, the alliance's members voted to disband.

Chow and two other core members of the group were convicted in 2023 for failing to provide authorities with information and received a sentence of 4 1/2 months each. But in March, the trio overturned their convictions at the city’s top court, marking a rare court victory for the city’s pro-democracy activists.

A trial in the national security case is set for Jan. 22.

Since pandemic-era gathering restrictions were lifted, the park where the vigil was previously held has been occupied on the Tiananmen anniversary by a carnival showcasing Chinese food and products.

Fernando Cheung, spokesperson for Amnesty International Hong Kong Overseas, said the court's decision on Monday showed that the authorities were “weaponizing the overly broad concept of ‘national security’ to suppress freedom of expression with impunity.”

“Commemorating the Tiananmen crackdown should never have been prosecuted," he said, calling for the release of those detained for what he called peacefully exercising their right to freedom of expression.

The Hong Kong government insists that the city's security law restored the city's stability after the 2019 protests.

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This version has been updated to correct the maximum penalty to 10 years, instead of life imprisonment.