Hong Kong’s top court overturned the convictions of three former organizers of an annual vigil commemorating the Tiananmen Square crackdown in 1989. The trio refused to provide information to the police and were convicted in 2023 but have already served their sentence. The Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China, which organized the vigil, disbanded in 2021 under pressure from China’s national security law. Critics see this as a loss of civil liberties despite promises made during the city’s return to Chinese rule in 1997.
The court ruled in favor of the activists, stating that the prosecution failed to prove the alliance was a foreign agent. The judges criticized the lower courts for falling into error in believing it was enough for the police commissioner to suspect them of being a foreign agent. The activists hope this ruling will help them prove the true nature of the 1989 movement and clear their names.
Meanwhile, jailed pro-democracy activist Tam Tak-chi failed in his bid to overturn his sedition convictions under a colonial-era law, which was repealed last year in favor of a new security law. Critics fear the new law will further restrict freedoms in Hong Kong. Despite the challenges faced by pro-democracy activists and concerns about the judicial system, they remain steadfast in their fight for freedom and justice.
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