Tiananmen vigil trio turn to Hong Kong’s top court to try and challenge convictions over nat. security request

Hong Kong Free Press

Alliance data request case court of final appeal

Three former organisers of the annual Tiananmen vigils in Hong Kong are seeking to take a challenge against their convictions over refusing to comply with a data request from national security police to the city’s top court.

Tang Ngok-kwan (left) and Tsui Hon-kwong meet the press outside the High Court before hearing the verdict of their appeal against their convictions and sentences on March 14, 2024. Photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP.

The High Court is set to hear an application next Wednesday from the former vice-chairwoman of the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements Chow Hang-tung and ex-members Tang Ngok-kwan and Tsui Hon-kwong. The trio will be applying for a certificate to the Court of Final Appeal (CFA) in the one-hour hearing, according to the Judiciary’s website.

In response to an enquiry from HKFP, the Department of Justice confirmed that it had received documents from the three appellants relating to their bid to take the case to the top court.

Data request case

Chow, Tang and Tsui were found guilty and sentenced to four and a half months’ jail last March, after they defied a police notice requesting information under the Beijing-imposed security law. Police letters sent to the group in August 2021 alleged that the Alliance was an agent acting on behalf of foreign entities and demanded information.

The pro-democracy group, known for organising the annual candlelight vigil in Hong Kong to commemorate Beijing’s crackdown on a student-led movement in on June 4, 1989, rejected the request and dissolved around a month later.

Court of Final Appeal judiciary — Court of Final Appeal. Photo: GovHK.

According to the top court’s website, individuals who wish to appeal to the CFA in criminal cases must obtain a certificate from the lower court to illustrate their cases involved the “point of law of great and general importance.” Even after a certificate has been issued, the Appeal Committee can determine whether a leave would be granted for the top court hear the case.

Last month, High Court Judge Anna Lai ruled that the convictions of the Tiananmen vigil organisers should be upheld. She rejected the argument that the prosecution had not proven the Alliance had a relationship with any identifiable foreign governments or political organisations, or acted in the interest of any such bodies, saying that the prosecution did not have to prove that the person or the organisation was in fact a foreign agent.

Tang and Tsui, who were granted bail pending appeal, were taken into custody to serve their sentences after Lai’s ruling.

Subversion trial

Chow is currently serving the remainder of a 15-month jail term for inciting others to participate in an unauthorised assembly linked to a Tiananmen vigil in 2021. She has been detained since September 2021, when she charged with inciting subversion alongside Alliance leaders Lee Cheuk-yan and Albert Ho.

Chow Hang-tung. File photo: Candice Chau/HKFP.

There is no fixed date for the trial of Chow, Lee and Ho yet. According to the Judiciary’s website, a second case management hearing will be held on April 27. High Court Judge Alex Lee said in February that he would “hopefully” provide a tentative trial date for the Alliance’s case during that hearing.

Beijing inserted national security legislation directly into Hong Kong’s mini-constitution in June 2020 following a year of pro-democracy protests and unrest. It criminalised subversion, secession, collusion with foreign forces and terrorist acts – broadly defined to include disruption to transport and other infrastructure. The move gave police sweeping new powers and led to hundreds of arrests amid new legal precedents, while dozens of civil society groups disappeared. The authorities say it restored stability and peace to the city, rejecting criticism from trade partners, the UN and NGOs.