by Jessie Pang
HONG KONG (Reuters) – A Hong Kong court on Tuesday sentenced an activist to 15 months’ imprisonment for instigating participation in a banned rally in honor of victims of the bloody crackdown by Chinese authorities in Tiananmen Square in Beijing against the pro-democracy movement.
Chow Hang-tung, 36, a lawyer and member of the now dissolved Alliance in Support of Democratic Patriotic Movements in China, was arrested on June 3, on the eve of the anniversary of the bloody Tiananmen crackdown on June 4, 1989. .
For the second year in a row, the police had banned in 2021 the vigil traditionally organized on June 4 in the Chinese special administrative region, citing health reasons due to the coronavirus epidemic.
In the eyes of many activists, however, the ban was part of efforts to quell the protests against power in Beijing, following the large pro-democracy protests of 2019. Authorities have rejected any connection.
Despite the ban, thousands of people lit candles across the city on June 4, 2020, and a smaller number followed suit last year.
Magistrate Amy Chan said that Chow Hang-tung’s social media posts were intended to “encourage, persuade and pressure members of the public” to take part in an illicit gathering. She denounced the “public health risk” that this gathering constituted.
Chow Hang-tung, who pleaded not guilty, said he wanted to “encourage others to remember June 4” and not encourage people to come together.
Along with seven other activists, Chow Hang-tung was sentenced last month to a 12-month prison term for her involvement in the 2020 vigil. She will serve a total of 22 months in prison, while the principle of confusion of sentences will apply for five months of the sentence pronounced Tuesday.
(Jessie Pang report, written by Marius Zaharia; French version Jean Terzian)
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