Hong Kong's top court on Thursday overturned the convictions of three former organizers of an annual vigil in remembrance of the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown over their refusal to provide information to police, marking a rare victory for the city's pro-democracy activists.
Chow Hang-tung, Tang Ngok-kwan and Tsui Hon-kwong — core members of the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China — were convicted in 2023 during Beijing's crackdown on the city's pro-democracy movement. They received a sentence of 4 1/2 months and have already served their terms.
The alliance was long known for organizing candlelight vigils in the city on the anniversary of the Chinese military’s crushing of the 1989 pro-democracy protests in Beijing. But it voted to disband in 2021 under the shadow of a sweeping national security law imposed by China.
Critics said the shutdown and the case showed that the city's Western-style civil liberties were shrinking despite promises they would be kept intact when the former British colony returned to Chinese rule in 1997.
Before the group dissolved, police had sought details about its operations and finances in connection with alleged links to pro-democracy groups overseas, accusing it of being a foreign agent. But the group refused to cooperate, insisting it was not.
On Thursday, judges at the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal unanimously ruled in the trio's favor. Chief Justice Andrew Cheung announced the decision in court.
The prosecution needed to prove that the alliance was a foreign agent, the judges wrote, adding that the lower courts “fell into error” in holding that it was sufficient merely that the police commissioner said he had reasonable grounds to believe the alliance was a foreign agent.
In their appeal, the appellants also took issue with crucial details that were redacted, including the names of groups that were alleged to have links with the alliance.
The top court's judges ruled that by redacting the only potential evidential basis for establishing that the alliance was a foreign agent, the prosecution disabled itself from proving its case.
“Non–disclosure of the redacted facts in any event deprived the appellants of a fair trial so that their convictions involved a miscarriage of justice,” they wrote.
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After the ruling, Tang told reporters outside the court that he hoped the top court's ruling proved that the alliance was not a foreign agent and that in the future they could prove that the 1989 movement was not a counter-revolutionary riot.
“Justice lives in people’s hearts. Regardless of the outcome, everyone knows the truth in their hearts,” he said.
During an earlier hearing at the top court in January, Chow, who represented herself and prepared the appeal in prison, said her case highlighted what a police state is.
“A police state is created by the complicity of the court in endorsing such abuses. This kind of complicity must stop now," she said.
Since the security law was introduced in 2020, several non-permanent overseas judges have quit the top court, raising questions over confidence in the city’s judicial system. In 2024, Jonathan Sumption quit his position and said the rule of law was profoundly compromised.
But Cheung in January said the judges' premature departures did not mean the judiciary's independence was weakening.
The annual vigil at Hong Kong’s Victoria Park was the only large-scale public commemoration of the June 4 crackdown on Chinese soil for decades. Thousands attended it annually until authorities banned it in 2020, citing anti-pandemic measures.
After COVID-19 restrictions were lifted, the park was occupied instead by a carnival organized by pro-Beijing groups. Those who tried to commemorate the event near the site were detained.
Chow and two other former alliance leaders, Lee Cheuk-yan and Albert Ho, were charged with subversion in a separate case under the security law. They remain in custody, awaiting the beginning of their trial.
In a separate ruling on Thursday, judges at the top court dismissed jailed pro-democracy activist Tam Tak-chi’s bid to overturn his sedition convictions in a landmark case brought under a colonial-era law that was used to crush dissent.
Tam Tak-chi was the first person tried under the sedition law since the 1997 handover and was found guilty of 11 charges in 2022, including seven counts of “uttering seditious words.” The judges ruled that the prosecution was not required to establish that the words uttered by the appellant were intended to incite violence or public disorder.
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The colonial-era law was repealed last year after the government introduced a new, home-grown security law that it said was necessary for stability. Critics worry the law will further curtail freedoms.