Three former Hong Kong Alliance leaders sentenced under national security law for inciting subversion

Three former leaders of the now-disbanded alliance behind Hong Kong’s annual Tiananmen Square vigil have been sentenced to up to seven years and three months in jail under the national security law for inciting subversion by calling for an end to “one-party dictatorship” in mainland China.

Three High Court judges on Friday also imposed a HK$1.5 million fine on the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China, bringing the high-profile trial at West Kowloon Court to a close.

The alliance, former chairman Lee Cheuk-yan and former vice-chairwoman Chow Hang-tung were earlier convicted after the judges found they had incited public hatred towards the party by likening Beijing’s 1989 crackdown on pro-democracy protesters to local authorities’ suppression of the 2019 anti-government protests.

Lee and Chow were sentenced to seven years and seven years and three months behind bars, respectively.

Former vice-chairman Albert Ho Chun-yan, who pleaded guilty before the trial began, was sentenced to five years and two months.