Hong Kong s top court quashes convictions of pro democracy Tiananmen group

HONG KONG - Hong Kongs top court unanimously overturned on March 6 the convictions of three former members of a pro-democracy group that organised an annual candlelight vigil to mark Chinas 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown, citing a miscarriage of justice.

The ruling is a rare victory for Hong Kongs pro-democracy movement in which scores of activists have been jailed or forced into exile, with many liberal and popular civil society groups shuttered.

In their judgment, the five judges of the Court of Final Appeal, led by Chief Justice Andrew Cheung, said government prosecutors had redacted key facts.

That had “deprived the appellants of a fair trial, so that their convictions involved a miscarriage of justice”, they added.

The now disbanded Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements in China used to organise the annual candlelight vigil to commemorate those who died in the crackdown in and around Beijings Tiananmen Square in 1989.

Former vice-chairperson Chow Hang Tung, 40, and two other former executive committee members Tang Ngok-kwan and Tsui Hon-kwong were sentenced to 4½ months in March 2023.

They had been found guilty of not complying with a national security police request for information on the Alliance’s members, donors and finances.

Tang welcomed the ruling, saying: “Today we can prove that the Alliance is not a foreign agent... justice is in the hearts of the people,” in remarks to reporters outside the court.

The group was designated a “foreign agent” for an unidentified organisation after being accused of receiving HK$20,000 (S$3,428) from it.

But some key details of the case, such as the identity of overseas organisations and individuals alleged to have ties to the group, were redacted, drawing criticism from the judges.

“By redacting the only potential evidential basis for establishing such facts, the prosecution disabled itself