Hong Kong’s top court quashes acquittal of Tiananmen vigil activist Chow Hang-tung after justice department’s appeal
- Chow Hang-tung’s conviction reinstated after unanimous decision of five Court of Final Appeal judges
- She was found guilty in 2022 of inciting others to join unauthorised assembly to commemorate 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown
Hong Kong’s top court has quashed the acquittal of activist Chow Hang-tung on a charge of inciting others to join an unauthorised assembly to commemorate the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown after a successful appeal by the justice department.
Five Court of Final Appeal judges on Thursday reinstated Chow’s conviction after they handed down their unanimous decision.
Chow, 39, was found guilty of incitement over calls to take part in an unauthorised candlelight vigil at Victoria Park on June 4, 2021. She was sentenced to 15 months in jail in January 2022.
She was the vice-chairwoman of the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China before its dissolution in September 2021.
Chow was acquitted by a High Court judge in December 2022 on the grounds that police had failed to fulfil their positive duty to facilitate the scheduled assembly, rendering its ban on the vigil unlawful.