Hong Kong: Judges Should Throw out Sham Prosecution of Tiananmen Vigil Organizers
Comments Off on Hong Kong: Judges Should Throw out Sham Prosecution of Tiananmen Vigil Organizers
(Network of Chinese Human Rights Defenders—May 19, 2026) Closing statements concluded today at Hong Kong’s High Court in the trial against the organizers of the territory’s long-running vigil for the victims of the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre. One of the judges indicated the verdict may be handed down in mid-to-end of July. Chow Hang-tung and Lee Cheuk-Yan pleaded not guilty to charges of “incitement to subversion” under the Beijing-imposed National Security Law in a trial that commenced in January this year.
“This entire prosecution and trial is a farce that ignores Hong Kong’s laws that protect the rights to freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly,” said Angeli Datt, CHRD’s Research and Advocacy Coordinator. “Chow Hang-tung and Lee Cheuk-Yan have committed no crime and should be released immediately and unconditionally.”
In January 2026, a group of UN human rights experts raised concern over the prosecution and treatment of Chow Hang-tung and Lee Cheuk-Yan. In 2023, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention determined that Chow Hang-tung’s detention to be arbitrary and called for her to be released.
Between 1990 and 2020, the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China organized an annual vigil in support of victims of the suppression of the 1989 prodemocracy movement, called for the end of one-party rule, and for democracy in China. Following the 2019 prodemocracy protests in Hong Kong, authorities banned the vigil in 2020-2021 on public health grounds due to the Covid-19 pandemic, and then afterwards on national security grounds. In September 2021, Hong Kong authorities charged the Alliance and its leadership and soon after the group’s remaining members voted to disband.
For more CHRD work, please see:
Submission to United Nations on Chow Hang-Tung
Portrait of a Defender – Chow Hang-tung (鄒幸彤)
Joint NGO letter to demand immediate and unconditional release of Chow Hang-tung and Lee Cheuk-yan
On the 36th Anniversary of Tiananmen, Release Activists Wrongfully Detained
For more information, please contact:
Sophie Richardson, Co-Executive Director, Chinese Human Rights Defenders, sophierichardson[at]nchrd.org, +1 917 721 7473
Angeli Datt, Research and Advocacy Coordinator, Chinese Human Rights Defenders, angelidatt[at]nchrd.org, +1 934 444 6155
Shane Yi, Researcher, Chinese Human Rights Defenders, shaneyi[at]nchrd.org