Hong Kong court to deliver verdict for 2 prominent former Tiananmen vigil organizers

HONG KONG -- A Hong Kong court is set to deliver a verdict Friday in a closely watched national security trial of two prominent activists linked to the city’s decades-long commemorations of the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown.The verdict is among the latest involving Hong Kong’s once-vibrant pro-democracy movement, which has largely been dismantled under a China-imposed security law.Lee Cheuk-yan and Chow Hang-tung were leaders of the now-disbanded Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China, which for three decades organized candlelight vigils that drew tens of thousands annually to remember the crackdown’s victims. They pleaded not guilty to inciting subversion and face up to 10 years in prison if convicted.Three government-vetted judges are expected to hand down the verdict at 10 a.m. local time.The vigil was banned in 2020 during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, weeks before Beijing imposed the security law on Hong Kong to quell the 2019 massive anti-government protests.Observers say their trial symbolizes the erosion of freedom of expression in the former British colony, which returned to Chinese rule in 1997.Eric Lai, a senior fellow with ...