Democracy activists have been sentenced to prison again in Hong Kong. Nine people have been jailed for their involvement in monitoring the victims of the Tiananmen massacre.

A court in China’s Hong Kong Special Administrative Region has sentenced a total of twelve activists – including leaders of the Hong Kong democracy movement like Albert Ho and Figo Chan. The nine defendants were sentenced to six to ten months in prison for violating the ban on gathering. Three other defendants acquitted with suspended sentences.

Ruth Kirchner
ARD-Studio Peking

Some of the convicts are already in jail for participating in other unauthorized protests. The relatives and supporters of the accused gathered in front of the courthouse in Wan Chai district. On the banners he called for the release of all political prisoners.

Pressure is being put on the democracy movement

Activist Chan Po-ying, the wife of a convict, said Hong Kong people would now be more cautious in the face of harsher punishment and political persecution. “Nevertheless, they will continue to remember the victims of the June 4, 1989 massacre.”

Some well-known Hong Kong activists are already in prison for participating in surveillance last year. Further procedures are to be followed. Officials have been making new allegations against Hong Kong’s democracy movement for months.

Tiananmen Memorial banned in 2020

For decades, Hong Kong was the only place in China that allowed public commemorations of the crackdown on the Chinese democracy movement. Last year, authorities banned traditional vigil for the first time – officially because of the coronavirus pandemic. Yet on June 4, 2020, thousands gathered to celebrate Victoria Park.

On the night of 4 June 1989, hundreds, perhaps more than a thousand, were killed in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square when the Chinese government used tanks and troops against protesters.