Hong Kong court overturns Tiananmen vigil group convictions

Hong Kong’s Court of Final Appeal on Thursday overturned the convictions of jailed human rights lawyer Chow Hang-tung and two fellow organizers of a candlelit vigil for victims of the 1989 Tiananmen massacre, although the three have already served their sentences. The ruling was a rare legal upset for the government’s ongoing crackdown on dissent.

The court ruled unanimously that Chow, a former leader of the now-dissolved Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements in China, and former alliance members Tang Ngok-kwan and Tsui Hon-kwong, hadn’t received a fair trial. The ruling relates to charges of failing to hand over alliance documents to national security police, a requirement that only applies to “foreign agents.”

Chow, Tang and Tsui were jailed in 2023 for four-and-a-half months each for refusing to comply with the request.

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