Source : INDIA TODAY NEWS
Two prominent Hong Kong activists, Lee Cheuk-yan and Chow Hang-tung, are awaiting a verdict in a national security case that has drawn international attention. The two former leaders of the now-disbanded Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China were charged in 2021 with inciting subversion under Hong Kong’s national security law.
The alliance had helped lead Hong Kong’s large annual vigils marking the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown. Critics have said the case highlights the erosion of freedoms in the territory under the law imposed by Beijing.
advertisement
Lee, 69, was the former chair of the alliance. During the 1989 student-led pro-democracy movement in Tiananmen Square, he took donations from Hong Kong residents to Beijing in late May. In court testimony, he said that when troops and tanks moved into central Beijing and opened fire to end the protests in June, he was in a hotel and heard the gunshots that night. The crackdown killed hundreds, possibly thousands. Lee said he later boarded a plane to return to Hong Kong, but police asked him to leave before take-off and detained him. He was allowed to return on June 8 after being questioned and signing a letter of repentance.
Lee said the experience led him to devote himself to telling the world what had happened. He is also a veteran labour activist and a former lawmaker in Hong Kong. In the national security trial, a key focus has been the alliance’s core demand of “ending one-party rule”. Prosecutors alleged that the group’s advocacy was aimed at inciting others to use unlawful means to overthrow the leadership of China’s ruling Communist Party. Lee denied harbouring enmity towards the party, saying his wish to see it reform came from his love for the people. “I have no enmity in my heart, only love,” he said.
Chow, 41, began attending the vigils when she was still in primary school. She studied natural sciences at the University of Cambridge, later studied law, and went on to become a vice-chair of the alliance. Before the group voted to dissolve in September 2021, police sought details of its operations and finances over alleged links to pro-democracy groups overseas and accused it of being a foreign agent. The alliance refused to cooperate and said it was not.
In 2023, Chow and two other core members were convicted over that refusal and each was sentenced to four-and-a-half months in jail. Last year, the trio had those convictions overturned by the city’s top court. While in prison, Chow became one of the first people to be arrested under a newer, homegrown national security law in 2024. Authorities alleged that she and several others had used a Facebook page to publish seditious posts and said they were targeting a “sensitive date”. The authorities have not detailed the content of the posts, but the page published a series of posts to mark the anniversary of the 1989 crackdown.
Despite limited resources in prison, Chow represented herself in the national security trial and maintained her defence. In her closing statement, she said: “Speaking the truth has become inciting hatred, seeking justice has become exploiting suffering, accountability and limiting power have become violating the constitution, and returning power to the people has become subverting the state.” As the verdict is awaited, the case remains centred on the roles, records and arguments of two of Hong Kong’s best-known activists linked to the annual Tiananmen vigils.
With PTI Inputs
– Ends
SOURCE :- TIMES OF INDIA
