HONG KONG: A Hong Kong court on Thursday found three prominent pro-democracy activists guilty of unauthorised assembly charges over a June 4 vigil commemorating the crackdown on protesters in and around Beijing’s Tiananmen Square in 1989.
The ruling against media tycoon Jimmy Lai, barrister Chow Hang Tung and former opposition politician Gwyneth Ho is the latest blow to the city’s democracy movement, which has seen scores of activists arrested, jailed or flee the Chinese-ruled territory since Beijing imposed a sweeping national security law last year.
Lai, Chow and Ho had pleaded not guilty to inciting others to participate in an unauthorised assembly on June 4, 2020.
Hong Kong traditionally held the world’s largest annual June 4 vigils to commemorate those killed by Chinese troops in 1989, having been promised wide-ranging freedoms when it returned to Chinese rule in 1997.
The last two vigils were banned by police, citing coronavirus restrictions.