Hong Kong civil rights activist: Jimmy Lai convicted of commemoration

In Hong Kong, a court found three activists guilty. Former media entrepreneur Lai and two other defendants called for a prohibited commemoration of the Tiananmen massacre.

Another verdict has been pronounced against democracy activists in China’s Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. Former media entrepreneur Jimmy Lai and two other defendants were found guilty by a court of calling for a banned commemoration of the 1989 Tiananmen massacre last year. The sentence is to be announced at a later date.

According to the “South China Morning Post”, all 24 opposition activists who were charged in connection with the forbidden commemoration have now been convicted with the guilty verdict.

Vigil prohibited

Lai has pleaded not guilty to the trial. The 74-year-old founder of the now closed Hong Kong newspaper “Apple Daily” is already in jail for similar proceedings.

The vigil, at which thousands of people lit candles annually in Hong Kong on June 4th, was banned for the first time last year. According to official information, the reason for this was the corona pandemic. Democracy activists consider this to be an advanced argument.

New security law for Hong Kong

The Chinese state and party leadership is massively rebuilding the actually autonomously governed Hong Kong. Last year, for example, it introduced a so-called security law, with the help of which civil society is systematically wound down. Freedom of expression, freedom of the press, freedom of assembly and the rule of law are increasingly restricted.

Commemoration of the 1989 massacre

These rights were guaranteed to the Hong Kong residents in 1997 when the former British colony was handed over to China. Because of these rights, it was always possible to commemorate the massacre of 1989 in Hong Kong – unlike in mainland China, which is ruled by the Communist Party.

During the crackdown on democracy protests around Tiananmen Square in the Chinese capital Beijing in early June 1989, hundreds and, according to some estimates, even thousands of people were killed by Chinese soldiers.