HONG KONG — Three Hong Kong activists from a now-defunct group that organized annual vigils commemorating China’s 1989 crackdown on pro-democracy protesters had been convicted on Saturday for failing to supply authorities with data on the group in accordance with a nationwide safety regulation.
Chow Hold-tung, Tang Ngok-kwan and Tsui Hon-kwong had been arrested in 2021 throughout a crackdown on the town’s pro-democracy motion following huge protests greater than three years in the past. They had been leaders of the Hong Kong Alliance in Help of Patriotic Democratic Actions of China earlier than it disbanded beneath the shadow of the Beijing-imposed regulation.
The alliance was finest recognized for organizing candlelight vigils in Hong Kong on the anniversary of the Chinese language army’s crushing of the 1989 Tiananmen Sq. pro-democracy protests. Critics say its shutdown has proven freedoms that had been promised when Hong Kong returned to China in 1997 are eroding.
Earlier than the group voted to disband, police had sought particulars about its operations and funds in reference to alleged hyperlinks to democracy teams abroad in August 2021, accusing it of being a overseas agent.
However the group refused to cooperate, arguing police had been arbitrarily labeling pro-democracy organizations as overseas brokers. It added the police didn’t have a proper to ask for its data as a result of it was not a overseas agent and the authorities didn’t present ample justification.
Below the safety regulation’s implementation guidelines, the police chief can request a spread of data from a overseas agent. Failure to adjust to the request may lead to six months in jail and a superb of 100,000 Hong Kong {dollars} ($12,740) if convicted.
On Saturday, principal Justice of the Peace Peter Legislation dominated the defendants had been obliged to reply the discover served to them, which he known as “sound and authorized,” and their non-compliance was unjustified.
The alliance had been actively working with varied entities and other people overseas, Legislation stated, so it was essential to discover their dealings and connections to find out their affiliation and supreme function.
“Such requirement for data was nothing like a broad-brush fishing train however quite was constrained when it comes to durations of time and nature,” he stated. “The police had taken an abstemious and self-restrained method.”
The annual vigil organized by the alliance was the one large-scale public commemoration of the June 4th crackdown on Chinese language soil and was attended by huge crowds till authorities banned it in 2020, citing anti-pandemic measures.
Chow, together with two different former alliance leaders, Lee Cheuk-yan and Albert Ho, had been charged with inciting subversion of state energy beneath the safety regulation in 2021. The alliance itself was charged with subversion.
The nationwide safety regulation criminalizes secession, subversion, and collusion with overseas forces to intervene within the metropolis’s affairs in addition to terrorism. Aside from the activists, pro-democracy writer Jimmy Lai can also be going through collusion prices beneath the regulation.