Three activists who organised an annual vigil marking the ChineseTiananmen Square massacrehave gone on trial in Hong Kong, facing 10 years in prison if convicted.
Hong Kong used to host yearly candlelight vigils to mark Beijing's deadly crackdown on demonstrators on June 4, 1989 – but those events have been banned since 2020.
That year,Beijing imposed a national security lawon the former British colony in the wake of huge, sometimes violent pro-democracy protests.
The Tiananmen vigil organiser, known as the Hong Kong Alliance, was shut down in 2021 after authorities arrested the three leaders now on trial. The trio and the Alliance are charged with "incitement to subversion", with the no-jury trial scheduled for 75 days.
Defendants Chow Hang-tung and Lee Cheuk-yan have been behind bars since 2021 and pleaded not guilty at the start of the hearing. The third defendant, Albert Ho, pleaded guilty.
Critics say their case shows that Beijing's promise to keep the city's Western-style civil liberties intact for 50 years has weakened over time. But the city's government said its law enforcement actions are evidence-based and strictly in accordance with the law.
About 70 people queued in the cold on Thursday morning for the public gallery, while dozens of police were deployed around the court.
As they entered the courtroom, Lee Cheuk-yan waved at his supporters, who waved back and said "good morning" to him. Albert Ho sat calmly. Chow Hang-tung thanked her supporters for enduring winds during the night and bowed to them.
The Alliance had repeatedly called for the "end of one-party rule" in China, which prosecutors said amounted to subverting state power, according to a case document published on Wednesday.
The prosecution will rely on company records, online material, clips of public speeches and evidence seized from the now-defunct Tiananmen museum operated by the group.
Amnesty International said on Thursday the trial was "not about national security – it is about rewriting history". Human Rights Watch urgedHong Kongto drop all charges and release the activists.
Hong Kong authorities say the prosecutions are safeguarding human rights and based on evidence.
The Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China was founded in May 1989 to support protesters holding democracy and anti-corruption rallies in Beijing.
The following month, China's government sent tanks and soldiers to crush the movement on and around Tiananmen Square, a decision it has since heavily censored domestically. The death toll remains disputed to this day, butestimates range from the hundreds to the thousands.
The Alliance spent the next three decades calling on Beijing to accept responsibility, free dissidents and embrace democratic reform. Its candlelight vigils in Hong Kong's Victoria Park every June 4 routinely drew thousands.
But the Hong Kong memorials have never resumed since China imposed a tough national security law and several June 4 monuments, such as the "pillar of shame" have also been removed from the city's universities.
The trial follows last month'sconviction of media tycoon Jimmy Lai, which drew international condemnation. Lai was found guilty of conspiring to commit foreign collusion.
The city's Chief Justice responded to the Lai criticisms on Monday, saying judges deal "only with the law and the evidence, not with any underlying matters of politics".
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