Lee Cheuk-yan, 69, and Chow Hang-tung, 41, longtime leaders of the now-defunct Hong Kong Alliance, are awaiting a verdict in their national security trial in Hong Kong on charges of "incitement to subversion." The case centers on their roles organizing annual candlelight vigils commemorating the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown and calls to "end one-party rule" in China [1, 2, 3].
The defendants have been in custody since their 2021 arrest under the national security law imposed by Beijing in 2020. The maximum penalty if convicted could be up to 10 years in prison [1, 2, 3].
The trial opened several weeks ago and by May 18 had lasted 22 days. Closing arguments were completed on May 26, with the verdict now awaited [1, 2].
While Lee and Chow do not dispute the facts of their actions, they "embrace" them as expressions of their beliefs. Chow told the court, "The defendants fully embraced the actions that the prosecution alleged to be crimes," and said, "What is really at dispute is what the law suppresses and what it protects." She further added, "The constitution itself is a tool... to put an end to various forms of autocracy" [2, 3]. Lee said, "I feel no enmity towards the Communist Party and hope it will reform" [2].
Prosecutors argue the defendants’ calls to "end one-party rule" amount to subverting state power and endanger national security. They contend freedom of speech and association are "not absolute rights" [3]. This disagreement over the meaning of the phrase "end one-party rule" is central to the trial. The defense says it calls for democratic reform, not overthrow, while prosecutors see it as subversion [3].
The Hong Kong Alliance was founded in 1989 to promote democracy and political reforms in China. The last candlelight vigil in Hong Kong’s Victoria Park was held on June 4, 2020, before the national security law was enforced [1, 2].
International rights groups including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch condemned the trial as an effort to rewrite history and silence dissent [2].
The verdict in the trial of Lee and Chow is expected soon after closing arguments ended on May 26. Authorities and activists alike await the court's decision in a case that marks one of the highest-profile prosecutions under Hong Kong’s national security law.
