HONG KONG — Three Hong Kong activists who organized annual vigils in remembrance of China's 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown were sentenced Friday to about 5 to 7 years in prison in a case widely seen as a barometer of the city's eroding freedoms as Beijing clamps down on dissent.Lee Cheuk-yan, Chow Hang-tung and Albert Ho were convicted of inciting subversion earlier this year under a Beijing-imposed national security law.Lee received a 7-year prison term and Chow was sentenced to 7 years and 3 months.Both pleaded not guilty.
Ho was given a lower sentence of 5 years and 2 months, partly because he pleaded guilty.The trio of defendants was charged in September 2021 and has been held in custody for years.Hong Kong once had a vibrant civil society marked by massive protests and a freewheeling press.But after a 2019 protest movement rocked the city, authorities reduced public choice in elections and prosecuted leaders of news outlets known for their critical reports of the government.
Many leading activists were imprisoned under the security law, and dozens of civil society groups dissolved, including the alliance.Beijing says the law is necessary to maintain stability.After the sentencing, Lee's wife Elizabeth Tang told reporters that Lee had been prepared for the worst and looked calm.Tang said he would appeal against the results.Tang said there's no freedom of speech in Hong Kong and the sentences would shock and anger many people.
She said millions of people attended or supported the candlelight vigil."The sentence is also a punishment for many other people.It's very hard to accept," she said.Chow's mother Medina Chow Lau Wah-chun joked that she had to thank those who had prosecuted the defendants for helping to write the truth of the 1989 crackdown and what happened in Hong Kong in recent years into the court records."Many years ago, my daughter already said that she wants to have a proper debate with them one day," she said.Chow's friend Lau Ka-yee said Chow...