HONG KONG (AP) — Three Hong Kong activists who organized annual vigils in remembrance of China’s 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown were sentenced Friday to about 5 to 7 years in prison in a case widely seen as a barometer of the city’s eroding freedoms as Beijing clamps down on dissent.

Lee Cheuk-yan, Chow Hang-tung and Albert Ho were convicted of inciting subversion earlier this year under a Beijing-imposed national security law.

Lee received a 7-year prison term and Chow was sentenced to 7 years and 3 months. Both pleaded not guilty. Ho was given a lower sentence of 5 years and 2 months, partly because he pleaded guilty.

The court said the case was considered serious, noting that the defendants pursued their activities even though they believed they might be violating the security law and Hong Kong's constitution, according to a summary of the ruling given to reporters.

The trio of defendants was charged in September 2021 and has been held in custody for years. The court ruling insisted they were not being tried because of their political views.

Hong Kong once had a vibrant civil society marked by massive protests and a freewheeling press. But after a 2019 protest movement rocked the city, authorities reduced public choice in elections and prosecuted leaders of news outlets known for their critical reports of the government. Many leading activists were imprisoned under the security law, and dozens of civil society groups dissolved, including the alliance.

Beijing says the law is necessary to maintain stability.

Activists' supporters attend sentencing

Dozens of people lined up outside the court to enter to the courtroom.

Roman Catholic Cardinal Joseph Zen, who was arrested under the national security law in 2022 but never faced charges under it, was among those sitting in the public gallery.

Former vigil-goer Simon Ng said his heart was heavy as the sentencing approached, adding that he felt accusations were not just against the defendants.

“I took part in the alliance’s vigils for decades; the ruling amounts to an accusation against me,” he said.

Critics say trial shows Hong Kong has changed

The sentences for the Tiananmen activists are the latest high-profile penalties imposed under the security law. In February, former pro-democracy media tycoon Jimmy Lai was sentenced to 20 years in prison.

The three defendants were leaders of the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China, which for three decades organized a Tiananmen vigil that was the only large-scale, public commemoration of the event in China.

Hundreds and possibly thousands of people were killed as military tanks rolled into the center of Beijing and troops opened fire to end the student-led pro-democracy protests in the 1989 Tiananmen crackdown.

The annual vigil drew tens of thousands of people to Hong Kong's Victoria Park every year for decades. But authorities banned it in 2020 during the coronavirus pandemic. The vigils symbolized the civil liberties that set Hong Kong apart from mainland China.

Urania Chiu, a lecturer in law at Oxford Brookes University in the U.K., said the guilty verdicts confirmed that even peaceful calls for democratic change in the Chinese regime are now criminalized in Hong Kong.

Chow, who represented herself, said the verdict suggested pursuing democracy is a crime and she did not deserve even one day in prison.

The Hong Kong office of China’s foreign ministry insisted that Hong Kong is governed by the rule of law and that no one should be allowed to engage in unlawful activities under the pretext of “freedom of speech and press” in a statement responding to criticism of the verdict in the Tiananmen vigil organizers’ case by foreign governments.

Court said vigil organizers plotted to overthrow Communist Party

In August, three government-approved judges convicted the trio of inciting subversion, citing their organization's demand to “end one-party dictatorship.” The judges said they were encouraging supporters to end the ruling Chinese Communist Party’s leadership through unlawful means and their call carried the notion of overthrowing or undermining it.

During the trial, the defense denied they meant to end the party’s leadership and insisted the alliance had not asked people to adopt any illegal means. Lee said their call for “ending one-party dictatorship” and moving toward democracy meant letting the people decide who leads them.

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