Lee Cheuk-yan, Chow Hang-tung, and Albert Ho appeared in Hong Kong's West Kowloon Law Courts on Wednesday as the long-anticipated national security trial of the city's Tiananmen vigil organizers finally commenced. The three face inciting subversion charges under the national security law that could carry sentences of up to ten years, marking a historic prosecution that criminalizes the act of public commemoration itself.
The defendants led the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China, the organization that for three decades coordinated annual candlelight vigils remembering victims of the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown. Those vigils, which once drew hundreds of thousands to Victoria Park, became Hong Kong's most visible expression of political dissent before the national security law took effect in 2020. The Alliance dissolved in 2021 under government pressure, but prosecutors argue its advocacy for ending one-party rule in China violated the Chinese constitution and threatened state security.
Prosecutor Ned Lai framed the case starkly: "There is no lawful means for ending the leadership of the CCP," he stated, establishing the government's position that advocating political change in China's system constitutes subversion regardless of means. Lee and Chow entered not guilty pleas, while Ho pleaded guilty. The Alliance itself, named as a co-defendant despite its dissolution, entered a not guilty plea.
Both Lee and Chow have been detained for over 1,500 days since their September 2021 arrests, while Ho has spent more than 1,300 days in custody after an initial bail period. Judge presiding over the case scheduled the formal prosecution opening for Monday.
